A Not-So-Fresh Start
by Ezri Rei
Summary: New school, new house, new people. It's what Allen wanted ever since his father passed away; and it was here. That was until he found out that his uncle just happened to be the band director at his new school. Now it seems as if his past life has come back to haunt him. Maybe a redheaded boy that the assistant in the office calls 'Bookman' might be able to cheer him up. AU. Laven.
1. Chapter 1

Allen Walker. He had chin length white, snowy hair and round gray eyes. What was the most odd about him, was his red pentacle scar that was dragged down the left side of his face. He wore round glasses that usually covered up his gray eyes for one reason. His left eye had an abnormal power that saw much more better than a regular teenager's. Without the glasses, his eye would turn black and red rings would form inside. He didn't wear contacts because he didn't like it when things got in his eyes.

No one usually looked at him or tried to get to know him well enough to know what had happened. Then again, he never usually let anyone in. He wouldn't admit it, but he was jealous of all the people around him. They were always so much happier than he was. He wanted to be happy too, but he sometimes asked himself: did he really deserve that kind of happiness? His past was cruel to him, and maybe his future would be too. Or that's what he thought. All of that changed when he met Lavi Bookman. But, this story goes before that. Back when Allen was just starting high school.

He was a freshman at Black Order High. It was his first day, but he would learn that high school for him would be much more harder than surviving middle school. Middle school, he was mostly ignored unless someone was beating him up. But in high school, there was a _lot _more students. That meant it was going to be a _lot _harder to avoid bumping into people. Bumping into people meant conversations, and Allen _wasn't _a conversationalist. He knew that in order to get through high school, his manners would need to increase another seven fold.

Now, he stood across the front office desk, where a small golden plaque read: H. Link, Assistant. A strict-looking man was seated across from where Allen was standing. He had long blond hair that was pulled back in a braid with short cut bangs that hung above his forehead. On said forehead were two small dots. His eyes were slanted in a fashion that made him look more evil than he should be. He was currently looking at Allen's schedule since Allen was requesting his locker number. For some reason, they never gave him one. Just his luck, he'd have to once again converse when he didn't want to. The man looked up from the schedule.

"Allen Walker, correct?" The assistant, Link, asked.

"Y-yes sir." Allen nodded.

His knees felt like jelly. It was hard for Allen to speak to people because of his past. Many people didn't like the way he looked, so they often scolded and beaten him for just that reason. Allen knew that that kind of person existed in everyone. Anyone could turn their backs on him like they always have done in the past.

"You're the nephew of our Band Director, no?"

"E-excuse me?"

"Neah Walker is our Band Director at this school."

Link noticed the boy pale further. It was just his luck that Mana's brother would teach at this school. Maybe he could convince Cross to move to another town. Then again, Cross said that he liked the house they were in so that was highly unlikely. Looks like he'd just have to avoid the Band room...which also happened to be beside the main doors.

"O-oh. Y-yes I am."

"You didn't know?"

Allen swallowed nervously and shook his head.

"N-no sir."

"Oh. So, you're not one of those troublesome students, are you?"

"N-no sir." Allen shook his head again.

"Here comes one of them now..." Link muttered under his breath.

Suddenly, the door burst open unexpectedly. There stood a grinning teenager. He had fiery red hair that was kept in a black and green, scaly bandana. An orange scarf could be seen wrapping itself around his neck snugly. He also had a black eye patch covering up his right eye. His left eye shone a bright green that was full of excitement. Allen was still shaking from the sudden outburst and was roughly shoved aside by the boy.

"Two-spot! It's great to see ya again!" He exclaimed.

"What do you want, Bookman?" Link asked bitterly.

"That's not my name, silly!" The student said, flicking him in the forehead. Allen was surprised that the assistant didn't lash out at him or give him a detention.

"What do you need?" The assistant grumbled, rubbing his forehead.

"My locker number! My ex stole it again."

"This is the third time in the past ten minutes, Mr. Bookman. How could you possibly-"

"Come on, two-spot, just give it to me!"

Link grumbled and rolled his chair to the computer, typing away. He gave Allen an apologetic look before printing two sheets off. He gave one to 'Bookman'. Bookman was out the door in seconds. Link scolded him not to lose it again before he disappeared. He looked over at Allen, who was picking himself up off the ground.

"If I were you, Walker, I would avoid that kid at all costs. He gets into so much trouble and I wouldn't want _another _Neah running around here. Neah, your uncle, was a _very _troublesome student and I really hope you don't follow in his footsteps." Allen shook his head quickly.

"N-no sir. Thank you, Mr. Link."

Allen accepted the paper from Link and bowed at him, raising a curious brow from the assistant.

"You're welcome."

Allen waved the assistant goodbye and stared at the locker number curiously. 246. Which meant he was on the second floor at the beginning of the school. Allen shifted his black book bag on his shoulder and trudged up the stairs. He counted the locker numbers as he passed by and spotted his. It was right next to an English class. _Great, more contact with people._ Allen looked both ways. Empty. He turned the knob accordingly and it opened up. There wasn't a lot of space but it was enough for Allen. He pushed up the small trigger to open the small top locker and it flew at him like a bullet. He frowned and rubbed his head. Why did it act like that?

Inside the small locker was a little note. He unfolded the paper curiously and opened it up. Apparently, the locker was tampered with and whoever did it, wrote him a note. _How kind of him._ Allen thought sarcastically.

_Dear Freshy!_

_Ha! Did I get ya? If so, tell me! The names Lavi. If you're a cute girl, call the number at the bottom ;) If not...well then too bad for you because I'll just hang up if you're not. Good luck on your first day, Freshy! Oh, and only I know how to fix the locker so either way, you'll have to confront me about it soon! Unless you want the locker to keep hurting you o.O anyways, I'll see ya later!_

_-The awesomest Senior in school, Lavi._

Allen rolled his eyes. This Lavi kid had to be full of himself if he really thought a girl would call him. Why would a girl call someone who just made their locker smack them in the face? It just didn't make sense. Allen crumpled the note and fiddled with the locker so that it wouldn't swing at him anymore. He knew how to do that from his previous days...lets just say everyone of his lockers have tried to smack him in the face in the past. He assorted the supplies in order before closing it. He took a pencil and a notebook just in case he needed to take notes. He looked at his schedule and headed to his first period: Social Studies. He stopped at the closed door that read: Bookman.

_Bookman? Isn't that what Mr. Link called that troublemaker? Then again, he called me Walker so maybe he only goes by last names? I wonder if this teacher is the father of him?_

"Hello, you're here early." A moody voice said from behind him.

Allen flinched and side stepped the door before turning around. There was a short man with black circles around his eyes. It kind of reminded Allen of a panda. He had gray hair that stood up on the top of his head. It was held in a small ponytail and had an odd shape to it. His hands were hidden in his sleeves. He was shorter than usual, but Allen knew not to judge. This man had to have a lot of experience.

"S-sorry, I was just looking around the school. I wasn't here on open house..."

"Walker." Bookman mumbled.

"Excuse me?"

"You're Allen Walker. You're the only one who didn't show up. Why is that?"

"I'm really sorry! I was working and I couldn't come!"

"Working? You have a job?" Bookman asked. Not many freshmen could get jobs around this area. It was just something that stayed with traditions...or something. Allen wouldn't know of course since he was a bit new to the area.

"Yes sir."

Bookman gave him a questioning look before unlocking his door. He gestured Allen to come inside. Allen hesitated before obediently following.

"You're a freshman and you work? That's new here. Well, you must be more responsible than most teenagers at this day and age."

"Thank you..."

"Here's your book you'll be using." Bookman said and handed Allen his Social Studies book.

"Thank you."

"I have assigned you all seats, just put your book on your desk. You can go tour the rest of the school after that just don't be late, okay?"

"Yes sir." Allen nodded, thankful that his last name started with a W. That meant he would be assigned at the back of the class.

Allen didn't like being in the front, that meant more people could be able to stare at the back of his white fluff. He placed the book down on his desk after reading the small note card that was taped onto the desk. He noticed three other names on the card that read: Lavi Bookman, Tyki Mikk, Jasdero Millennium. He stared at the first name. Lavi Bookman? His last name started with a B, so then why was he at the back of the class? Same with this Tyki and Jasdero. Were all three of them troublemakers? _So Link called Lavi, Bookman. So are Mr. Bookman and Lavi related somehow? _Allen wondered as he walked out the door.

In middle school, Allen had ten classes. Here, he had eight. At least there was _something _good about high school. First period was History (or Social Studies) with Bookman. Then second period was Biology with Krory, third period was Geometry with Johnny Gil, fourth period English I with Miranda Lotto, fifth period P.E. with Klaud Nine, sixth period Art II with Froi Tiedoll (he took Art I in middle school), seventh period Choir with Lala, and eight period study hall with Komui Lee. It seemed as if he would be running all around the school with a schedule like this. Allen didn't mind though.

Even as a freshman, he was quite strong. This was because of Master Cross, his current guardian he lived with. Cross used to be a police officer and often taught martial arts to his apprentices. Now that he was Allen's guardian, he _had_ to teach Allen. Not only that, Cross would teach him sports, saying that he used to be the P.E. teacher at Black Order High. Knowing Cross, that had to have been really hard on the students.

Allen's favorite sport was soccer. He didn't have to use his hands unless he was goalie, and he was usually just on defense whenever he and Cross' friends played. His least favorite was Baseball, which was because one of Cross' friends was playing around and hit the baseball the wrong way, causing it to go high in the air and towards Allen, who was on the roof. After hitting him in the forehead, Allen rolled off the roof and couldn't practice for a week.

As Allen finished touring himself around the school, the bell rang for first period. He hurried to the class and got there even before Bookman did. He didn't want to end up falling and being late. Even though Allen was strong and well balanced, he always tended to bump into things and fall over things. So, basically, he was well balanced but clumsy...however that made sense. Allen walked over to his seat and sat down, idly observing the room. Bookman walked in with Lavi a few minutes later and went behind his desk to retrieve chalk. He gave Allen an approving look.

Maybe he just might survive high school yet.

It was only second period and Allen was already freaking out. Their biology teacher, Krory, looked like a vampire. He was pale and had black hair, white bangs stood out of the black patch on his head and was longer than his chin. He was also wearing a black _cloak. _Sure, someone would probably tell Allen he was overreacting. That would be until they saw his _teeth. _They were sharp and jagged like a shark's. It freaked Allen out to no extent. _Maybe he was hired for Biology because he likes blood! Oh god, I hope I'm just overreacting! _Allen hoped. Krory didn't assign seats like Bookman did, although Allen still stayed at the back of the class. He watched from behind a book as the students filed in one by one. None of them stared at him though. Thankfully, he was invisible behind the book, however that was possible.

"Hey!" Allen flinched.

Maybe not.

Allen looked to his side and nearly screamed when a girl was inches away from his face. She had golden eyes and bluish black hair that was sticking out in random places. Her skin was an ashen gray color, it definitely didn't seem normal. She seemed to be observing his face closely. Allen didn't enjoy it at all. He instantly sat in the seat beside the one he used to be sitting in. The girl just sat in that chair instead, smiling. She was _enjoying_ him being scared of her.

"My name is Road, what's yours?"

"A-Allen..." Allen said, muffling his voice behind the book he was hiding behind. Road giggled at him.

Thankfully, his teacher saw the uncomfortableness and saved him. Krory tapped the girl's shoulder and pointed over to another student. He had black hair that was slicked back and mole under one of his two golden eyes. Road's eyes lit up and she bounced over to the man, who was _staring _at Allen...protectively? Allen was slightly confused, but looked at his savior with grateful eyes.

"Thank you, Mr. Krory." Krory smiled and nodded.

"I was like that at some point too, don't worry, it get's better." Allen nodded. Krory stood behind his desk and cleared his throat to start reviewing on what lessons they'd be learning.

He noticed the teenager Road sat beside looked over at him a lot. Sometimes it was reassuring but sometimes it was hinted with longing. Allen was really nervous about it and tried his best to pay attention to what the teacher was saying. He didn't look at all the students he was in class with since it was probably unlikely that he wouldn't be talked to by them anyways. At last, the bell rang and Allen collected his Social Studies, Biology, and note book. He was the last one out of the classroom, but was stopped by the man from before.

"Hello, my name is Tyki."

Allen backed into the wall away from him. Hopefully this man didn't want to pick on him like the others always did in middle school. Allen knew he could defend himself, but he could never bring himself to hurt someone else. Tyki neared closer despite the unwanted attention Allen disliked.

"You must be Allen, hm?" Allen nodded. "There's no need to be afraid, Boy, I won't hurt you." Allen averted his gaze to the floor.

"Awe, he's so shy~!" Road giggled.

"I...e-excuse me, I have to go to class." Allen ran off. He was _way _too close for Allen's liking.

Allen walked up the stairs and cautiously walked into his Geometry class. Once again, he was the first one in class. The teacher, Johnny Gil, had fuzzy brown hair that was held in a curly ponytail, and glasses that covered up his eyes. Kinda like Allen's, but you couldn't even see the color of Johnny's eyes. He was currently at the computer, typing with large headphones over his ears. Allen didn't see any name note cards so he simply sat in the back like always.

Only when more students enter did Johnny actually look up from the computer. Allen noticed that Lavi was also in Geometry. _Isn't he a Senior? Shouldn't he be in Calculus or something? Unless maybe he failed this class before and had to take it again..._Lavi was currently talking to a dark green haired girl. Allen ignored Lavi's rambunctious talking and watched as Johnny started passing out notes.

Geometry passed by quite quickly. Now it was fourth period. Allen had a feeling that this day was going by rather slowly. He trudged upstairs to his English class. The desks were arranged to create a huge discussion circle. That made Allen more than uncomfortable. Hopefully, she would have mercy on him and not call on him a lot. He noticed that the teacher was a woman with curly, brownish black hair and her brown eyes were so dark they looked black. She seemed to be pacing back and forth nervously. _I wonder if this is her first day teaching...she looks so nervous. _She looked up from her pacing and spotted Allen.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Allen tilted his head to the side.

"For what?"

"I didn't see you come in!"

"That's alright."

"Are you sure? Oh, I feel s-so guilty now! I'm sorry for not noticing you!"

"That's okay, not many people notice me anyways..."

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean it like that! Oh god, I'm a horrible teacher!" Allen shook his head. This woman was worse than him when it came to apologizing.

"It's okay, it really is." Allen gave her a reassuring, fake smile. She calmed after it.

"If you say so."

Miranda ran over to collect her papers and started passing them out on each desk. Allen stared down at the syllabus she handed to him. He read the entire thing when the late bell rang. It wasn't really long at all but it did explain what kind of maps and prompts they would be using. There were barely any rules, but Allen believed that was only because Miranda was really softhearted. It just so happened that Road was in his class as well.

Great.

Finally, fifth period had arrived. Luckily, Allen had first lunch. The only problem was that he'd have to pass by the band room in order to get to the cafeteria first. It was either that, or go around the entire school. Allen really didn't want to do that. He loved food. Food was important. Food was...his life...food was...everything to Allen. Food. Oh God food. Yeah, Allen was pretty hungry now that he thought about food. Just as he was passing on the far side of the band room, Neah walked out. _The last time Neah saw me was when I was twelve...that was three years ago and I had brown hair...maybe he won't recognize me! Oh that would be great! Plus, he wouldn't be able to see my eyes behind my glasses! _Everything was going according to Allen's plan. Neah would never know it was him.

"Walker! There you are! Come here." Allen froze.

_Crap. _

Just as Link shouted that, Neah looked up from his scores. Allen turned his head towards Link stiffly. He could see Neah's eyes widen in his peripheral vision. Allen did have really great eyesight after all. It was just his left eye was _too_ good. Plus, it looked weird. He also noticed that Neah was now _staring_ at him. He wasn't even moving.

"Yes, Mr. Link?" Allen asked. Link grabbed a hold of Allen's left wrist, causing his shoulders to tense up.

"There's a scary—er, man in the office looking for you, come with me."

"What does he look like?" Allen asked, following after Link.

"He's got long red hair, a goatee, thin glasses, red eyes—sound familiar at all?" Neah's eyes widened further.

"Is his name Cross?" Allen asked.

"Yes! Okay, that's good, you know him." Allen inwardly sighed. What could Cross possibly want this time? Link opened the door and pushed Allen over to Cross so that he stood directly in front of him.

"Good afternoon."

"Hey, I need your help." Cross said, blowing smoke at him. Allen waved the smoke out of his way, coughing.

"Help? Help with what?"

"I'll show you when we get there, come on." Cross grabbed Allen's right wrist and dragged him out the door, sending Allen stumbling after him.

"W-wait! Aren't you s-supposed to sign me out first?!" Neah watched closely as Cross dragged Allen to the main doors. "I still have the rest of the day of classes!"

"I don't care, they'll sign you out." Allen sweat dropped.

"What's so urgent that I have to come now?"

"Shut up and follow me!"

"O-okay..." Neah was quite surprised that Allen would follow a guy like Cross willingly. Neah looked both ways before following the master and apprentice out of the building. He could skip lunch if it meant learning where his nephew lived. He knew that leaving Allen alone was a mistake. Now he ended up in the hands of this guy of all people. "Say, Master, will you bring me back to school once we're done doing whatever we're doing." Cross growled.

"Hell no, that's wasting gas."

Neah scowled.

"Oh, okay."

Neah grimaced.

Cross finally let go of Allen's wrist and motioned him to get in the car. Neah sighed in defeat as they drove away. He thought maybe he'd be lucky enough to say that Allen lived close by the school. Neah wondered what to do now. His beloved nephew was in the hands of a womanizer. He should've taken care of Allen instead of running away when Mana died. He never thought about how Allen felt, and now he regretted his actions. Could Allen even begin to forgive him?

Meanwhile, Cross just parked in the driveway. Too bad for them, they lived on a main road, which meant Allen didn't get to go out as much for peace because of all the cars driving by. You would think that they would slow down because there would be children running around; they also lived near an elementary school. Cross hurried Allen inside the door. When inside, Allen heard a muffled, whining noise.

"That! What is that?!" Allen walked out of the door again and walked around the perimeter of the house when he spotted a hole in the side of the house.

"Over here!" Cross quickly ran over and stared dumbly at the hole.

"Oh hell no! I am _not_ going down there. You go." Cross stared at Allen expectantly. Allen sighed and crawled in through the hold. He squeaked when he crawled through a spider web. "Don't ever do that again around me, got it?" Cross said, looking through the hole.

"Okay..." Allen whispered as if the spiders hated noise and would attack Allen if he was too loud. Allen was getting closer and closer to the whining noise, which was growing louder and louder. It was too dark for anyone to see without a flashlight. Allen took his glasses off and could see a large golden fluff in front of him. It was caught in...a bear trap? _What's a bear trap doing under our house? _Allen wondered. The dog growled at him when he got closer. "It's okay, I won't hurt you..." Allen was about to grab a hold of the bear trap when the dog lunged at him and bit him on his right shoulder. "AH!" He yelled in pain.

"Hey! You okay in there, brat?!" Cross would never admit it, but he was actually worried. He may or may not have gotten attached to the boy...

"Y-yeah, I'm okay." Allen squeezed the metal bars and pulled them apart. The dog let go of Allen's shoulder and sprinted out of the hole.

"What the hell?!" Cross nearly screamed from outside. Allen chuckled lightly, not noticing that his leg was in the middle of the contraption when he let go. Sudden pain clenched onto his leg and he didn't yell this time. He screamed. Cross hurried inside the hole, grumbling at the spider webs that flew in his face. He could hear Allen groaning in pain. "Don't think I'm ever coming down here for you again, brat." Allen clutched his bleeding leg. If he tried to speak, it would probably come out as a whine, and he certainly didn't want Cross to poke fun at him for whining. "Hey, talk to me! Where are you—holy shit!" Cross stared at the contraption as it bit deeply into Allen's leg. Cross crawled over and pulled the trap apart. Allen took his leg out and cradled it. _If Mana saw this, he would kill me! _"Come on, let's get out of here." Allen nodded slightly and crawled out crookedly. As soon as they made it out, Cross lifted Allen on his back. "I'm never doing this again, you hear?" Allen nodded against Cross' shoulders. Cross put him on the couch.

"Wh-what happened to the dog?"

"Don't worry about the damn dog!"

Cross hurried over to the bathroom, rummaging through the bathroom cabinets. He pulled nearly everything out of the cupboards, finally finding the bandages and cream in the back. He noted to himself that he should probably store them closer just in case something like this ever happened again.

"B-but its raining!"

Just as Allen argued that, a loud clap of thunder shook the house.

"The dog will be fine."

"H-he doesn't have a home."

"How would you know that?" Cross asked as he came back with a handful of bandages and cream.

"No collar..."

"You didn't have a collar on you when I found you and you still belonged to someone." Allen was silent. An image of Allen beaten and bloodied flashed through Cross' mind. He was also wearing a collar that dug into his neck. _Shit. _

"Wh-what if he was lonely?"

"I'm sure he has dog friends." Cross felt like he was talking to a three year old. Allen waited and Cross grabbed some scissors and started cutting off the fabric on his pants. _Holy shit, its really deep. _"You'll probably need really thick bandages for this..."

"I-it's not broken, is it?!"

"No, but it's really deep." Cross said, finishing the bandage off.

"Are you sure the dog will be okay? He looked hurt..." Cross didn't reply but yanked Allen's shirt off and bandaged up the right shoulder. He stared down at the white, scarred skin on Allen's right wrist. Allen wouldn't look him in the eye. _He was probably feeling lonely when he did this...Mana would obliterate my ass if he saw this..._Cross sighed and stood up. He picked up a black umbrella.

"Where are you going?" Allen tried to stand up but his leg wouldn't let him. Allen winced. "Stay put! I'm going to get you a cast or something. Knowing you, you'd open the wound after it closed." Allen nodded and laid back down.

He stared at the dried blood on his arm. This caused him to stare at the scars on his wrist. _Mana would be so disappointed in me...I wish Neah still loved me...it's all my fault he's gone. I shouldn't have listened to that traitor, Cosmos...Neah probably wouldn't be able to look at me the right way anymore._ Hours passed and Allen was starting to get worried. He knew he fought with Cross a lot, but he still cared about him. If it wasn't for Cross, Allen would probably be dead right now. Just as his eyes started to droop down, the door swung open. The wind was knocked out of him when something large landed on his stomach.

"Get down!"

At first, Allen thought Cross was talking to him. That was until the large weight on his abdomen jumped off of him. Allen looked over to see what had jumped on him in the first place. It was the large dog from before. He had matted, golden fur. A light yellow could be seen in the shape of a cross on his back. Allen looked at the golden-eyed dog before looking up at Cross questioningly.

"An old lady called Mother gave him to me to give to you. He was a stray when she found him and he doesn't have a name. I told her a little about you and we had a glass to drink, which was why it took so long. After I told her about you, she insisted that we keep the dog. His name is Timcanpy now." Allen's eyes brightened and Timcanpy was staring at him. He started licking his shoulder as an apology before licking his face. "I got this from a doctor in town." Cross said, attaching a black Velcro...boot looking cast thing to Allen's leg. "I think she said it was some kind of boot or something."

"Thank you." Cross grunted.

"Keep that on for like more than a week or two and don't do any P.E." Allen nodded. "I'll write a note to Klaud herself." Allen knew that Cross knew Ms. Nine since he used to be the old P.E. teacher. He didn't think anything would really change if he came to school in crutches.

He didn't know just how wrong he was.


	2. Chapter 2

Allen didn't take the main doors in this time, afraid that he would run into Neah. So instead, Allen went through the Adult Education double doors. What he didn't expect was so many stares going his way. At least Cross had the heart to drive him to school today. Usually, Allen would walk. Cross demanded him not to do any physical activity that would stress his muscles out. He said he didn't want to get sued for 'Child Abuse.' _Love you too, Master._ Allen thought sarcastically.

What was really hard for Allen, was getting up the stairs. Even as he struggled upstairs, everyone stared. Couldn't they at least help him or something?! What was so interesting that they had to stare? It wasn't really that big of a deal that he was in crutches. A lot of people have had to have them...not that he would know. He never really talked with anyone in middle school, but he did see a few athletes have them. They never made such a big deal out of him before...Allen opened his locker and unzipped his bag. He placed his History, Biology, Geometry, and English book inside.

"Good morning, Boy~" Allen's heart raced and he spun around, dropping his crutches and clinging onto his locker. "Why are you so afraid of me?" Tyki asked. He attempted brushing his hand against Allen's cheek but Allen would have none of it. He tried walking backwards but only managed to fall on his butt.

"Ow..." Allen rubbed his right shoulder where his book bag applied too much pressure. Tyki picked up Allen's crutches and held out his hand. Allen scooted away from it. He didn't like people touching him. Whenever people touched him, it was often in a bad way...okay, that kind of sounded wrong, but he didn't mean it like that...

"Are you just going to sit there all day?" Allen gulped and took Tyki's hand cautiously. Tyki hoisted him up gently. "You know, Boy, you can have a bag around school if you're on crutches." Allen nodded.

"Y-yes, but..." Allen rubbed his shoulder. "I h-hurt my shoulder..."

"Then how about I carry your stuff for you until then?" Tyki ofefered.

"Wh-what? Why would you want to do that?" Tyki only smiled at the question and took his bag.

"What's your first class? Oh, I know, it's Bookman isn't it?"

"H-how did you-"

"You sit in the same desk as I do."

"O-oh...thank you..."

"No problem." Tyki stopped at the stairs and Allen awkwardly stepped down them. Tyki rolled his eyes and slung Allen's bag over his shoulder, then he scooped Allen up into his arms.

"Wh-what are you doing?!"

"You're too slow, Boy~."

"Sorry..." Allen muttered.

"It's alright." Tyki placed him down and glared at anyone who tried to stare at Allen. It was obvious he didn't like attention. They made it to Social Studies before the bell rang. Bookman wasn't even in the classroom yet. Tyki set his stuff down on the desk.

"I think I'm just going to stay here." Allen told him as he sat down in his desk. Tyki took his crutches and leaned them up against the counter that held the air conditioning...or heat.

"What are you going to do then?"

"I don't know, but I don't want to keep walking."

"Okay, then I guess I'll just go then. I'll see you in Biology." Tyki smiled. _Why is he so nice to me? Why does he seem so familiar too? Hmm...have I met him before? It seems like it but I just can't remember..._it was then that Lavi of all people walked in the room. He looked up from the folder he was looking down at and scowled at Tyki.

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm just helping a fellow student with his crutches instead of shoving him aside, Bookman." Tyki said in a mocking tone.

"Shoving him? When did I ever do that?" Allen blushed, remembering yesterday when he tried getting his locker number from Link and Lavi shoved him aside. _Tyki saw that..._

"You don't remember? Yesterday when you left to go get your locker number and mercilessly shoved him to the ground." Allen's interest slowly turned to the window. He didn't like it when people fought. He remembered once when Mana and Neah were fighting...it was really scary and it just made Allen want to cry...he usually did and then they would stop, but he was pretty sure that if he started crying now they'd just look at him weird...not that he would really cry over two people that he didn't know fighting. That'd be a little too pathetic for his tastes...

"Did I really do that? It's your fault for stealing my locker combination anyways!" This caused Allen to blush deeper. Was Tyki this so-called ex that Lavi was speaking about yesterday?

"Poor Allen, he didn't do anything to deserve that." Tyki growled.

"I...I-I'm sure i-it was just an accident..." Allen attempted defending the redhead, he really did...but this just made Tyki glare harder at Lavi. Lavi glared right back. Bookman made his appearance in the room and looked up to see Tyki and Lavi glaring at each other while Allen looked thoroughly uncomfortable. Bookman sighed.

"Mikk, please leave the classroom." Tyki scowled at Bookman and left the room. Allen had a feeling he knew why Tyki was seated in the back of the class now. Tyki's disappearance made Allen feel alone. _No,_ Allen told himself,_ don't get attached! It will just get screwed up in the end...just don't get attached..._he reminded himself.

"Jeez that guy really irks me!" Lavi said as he plopped in the seat across from Allen. If he agitated Lavi so much...then why were they together in the first place? _I don't like relationships...they're so confusing._ Lavi stared at Allen for awhile, Allen just stared out the window, trying his best to ignore Lavi. He just wanted to shrink away and disappear. "Sorry about yesterday, it was totally accidental, I didn't even see you." His eyes roamed down on Allen's desk, where his note card was. His eyes widened in realization and he lunged across the desk, mere centimeters from Allen's face. Allen looked even more uncomfortable from before and slowly sank back into his seat. "You're Neah's nephew, aren't ya?"

"Lavi! Leave the boy alone." Bookman scolded. Lavi sank back into his own chair.

"So, what happened to your leg?"

"I-I g-got stuck in a b-bear trap..." Both Lavi and Bookman winced.

"How did ya do that?"

"Th-there was a dog stuck in it...and after I let him out, I got stuck."

"How'd ya get out?

"S-someone helped me..."

Lavi stared at Allen for a long time, like he was observing him. Allen tried his best to keep his gaze glued to the window. He never did feel comfortable with talking with people like Lavi. He was a curious ball of energy. Allen knew those type of people. They were always too curious for their own good and often tried to figure Allen out like he was some kind of puzzle. Allen didn't like puzzles, not at all. They were too confusing...did this mean he was confusing too?

"Why's your hair white?" Allen's eyes widened and his gaze slid from the window pane to the floor. He didn't reply to Lavi's question. Bookman guessed that it was a touchy subject.

"I'd rather not answer, sorry."

"Okay, what about your scar? It looks like a burn."

"I'd rather not-"

"Okay, then why do you wear gloves?" Allen was silent once again. Bookman felt bad for the kid.

"Lavi!" The older man snapped at him.

"Yeah, yeah, I get it." Lavi stood up and sat in a rolling chair next to Bookman's desk. Apparently, Lavi was Bookman's student aide. Allen wished he could be a student aide...but Freshmen weren't allowed to be student aides for some reason. Lavi sighed in boredom and Allen nearly sighed in relief, putting his head on his desk to wait for class to start.

* * *

><p>After the first four periods, it was like the first day of school all over again. Allen didn't know what to expect. He tagged along in the crowd to blend in as he walked (hopped?) to lunch. He didn't want Neah to see him. He made it to lunch in one piece but Road, the creepy girl in Biology, insisted on holding both of their trays. Nobody stared at Allen anymore. While it was relieving on one hand, it was confusing on the other. Did they get tired of staring at him or something? What really made Allen uncomfortable was that 'Tyki's Table' was right beside 'Lavi's'.<p>

"That's because Tyki and Lavi used to like each other and neither of us felt like moving." Road would inform. He didn't expect so many other people to be sitting at the table as well. He knew that Neah had a lot of family he used to go to school with and that he was older than them all, but he didn't expect this many. Allen could only tell they were related by their skin and eye color. It was a bit weird how all of them had those same qualities.

Wisely Millennium was white haired like Allen. His hair contrasted brightly against the familiar dark skin. They all had that color of skin, which was a dead giveaway that they were related to Neah. Wisely also had golden eyes like the rest of them. He wore a white turban on his head. Allen was quite confused with that. Why would he wear that on his head? Isn't that not allowed in school anyways?

Jasdero Millennium, Allen remembered him because he sat in the same desk Allen did. Apparently, he and Devit Millennium were twins even though they looked nothing alike. Jasdero had long, blond, wavy hair and golden eyes. He also wore what looked like eye liner in a jagged line on his mouth, looking like it was sewn together. He had a small trinket around his head that lit up. He also wore eye liner around his eyes.

Devit Millennium, Jasdero's twin brother, looked nothing like Jasdero. He had black hair that was cut to frame around his face and just like all the others, he had golden eyes. He also wore eye liner like Jasdero's and apparently, he always had some kind of choker around his neck. Both him and Jasdero carried golden pistols at their sides, Allen really hoped that they weren't real. Isn't that kinda thing not allowed either?

Next was Lulu Bell. She had black hair that was held back in a low ponytail. She had golden eyes, surprise there, and her bangs were cut straight across her forehead. She almost seemed the most normal, had it not been for the most eye catching blobs on her chest. _Cross would probably try and flirt with her..._Allen thought regrettably. She seemed to have somewhat of a smooth but strict aura around her.

Next was a large, burly man who loved sweets. His name was Skinn Bolic. You can only guess what color his eyes were. Said eyes were slanted in a mean looking fashion. From the comments from the others, they would say that he didn't really like getting in fights, despite his size. His hair was spiky and he definitely looked threatening.

It was like a bunch of misfits slammed into one group and Allen wasn't sure whether or not to sit down. He definitely stood out from his pale feature and white hair. His eyes weren't golden as theirs were either. He just didn't seem to fit in. It kinda scared him to sit down. What if they didn't like him and tried to pick on him like everyone else he tried to sit with in middle school? Both sides could be seen glaring at each other. It didn't look like the two sides got along very well...Tyki smiled at Allen and patted the seat next to him. Allen swallowed nervously before sitting down. What was weird was that no one looked at him funny but just kept to their normal routine of chattering. This made Allen feel more welcome.

"So, Boy, pray tell how your leg ended up in the state its in now." The others started paying more attention to him, but it wasn't that bad attention he always got. It was like they really cared about what happened to his leg. He kinda liked it.

"I got stuck in a bear trap." Devit choked on his food and Jasdero snickered.

"How did you manage that?!"

"There was a dog stuck in it. I helped it out and then got stuck in it myself." Everyone at the table winced...Allen was beginning to feel comfortable around them. Sure, he felt like he fit in with a bunch of misfits, but hey, at least he actually fit in somewhere. He actually had some hope that he could have some real friends.

"Which is probably a lie."

Hope destroyed.

It was a girl with shoulder length brown hair at Lavi's table. She also had round, brown eyes and a clip on the top of her head and she was wearing a kimono. She said it rather loudly, causing others to look over and stare. Tyki scowled. Allen bit his lip and nervously looked between them. Road was the first one to argue.

"That was mean! You deserve to-"

"No, no, that's okay, really guys." Allen smiled sadly at them. Whether he liked it or not, he was used to this kind of treatment. He didn't hate people for treating him this way either, he understood why they did it, but he would never treat someone differently just because they looked different. In fact, this girl might only be treating him badly just because he's friends with the people she hates. Humans were strange things...

"Jeez, now he just wants pity, how pathetic."

"Fuck off, Bitch!" Devit yelled, causing quite a lot of people to look over and not all of them were students. Allen frowned, he didn't like it when people fought, it caused his chest to tighten up painfully. The pigtailed girl from Geometry frowned at them. The one with dark blue hair just che'd.

"Come on guys, don't fight-" The girl with pigtails pleaded.

"Shut it, Spoiled Brat." Jasdero seethed along with his brother.

"P-please don't fight." Allen tried.

"Stop trying to be a hero, Freak." The guy with short, dark brown hair said. This word caused Allen to shrink back into his chair. This was one of his taboo words.

"That wasn't necessary, tell your dog to back down." Tyki said, grabbing Lavi's shirt. Allen jumped in at that. He grabbed Tyki's arm and gave him a kicked puppy look. Lavi stared at Allen in shock. Why would he want to defend him?

"Please stop." Tyki stared at Allen for a minute before seeing that his leg was bleeding from the action of standing up without his crutches. Just as he let go, Daisya tackled Allen to the ground.

Allen let out a yelp of pain. Daisya was so angry about how easy Allen got his way. _He probably thinks he's better than the rest of us, trying to prove that he has luck on his side. I'll show him!_ Daisya continuously started to hit Allen. _No one deserves that kind of treatment, especially him._ What struck everyone as odd was that Allen wasn't fighting back. He was letting Daisya hit him. Which just pissed Daisya off even more. _Trying to act all high and mighty...god!_

"DAISYA BARRY!" Mr. Tiedoll, a teacher with gray hair and glasses shouted. He looked ticked.

"I hate people like you..." Daisya growled as he stood up. Allen was writhing in pain but he wouldn't cry out. His stomach hurt but he knew it wasn't only from the blows. Why did so many people hate him? Just what did he do to deserve this? Why did people have to fight so much?

"You little shit!" Tyki charged at Daisya.

After that, all hell broke loose. The next thing Allen knew, Devit and Daisya were going at it like apes, Lavi and Tyki's fists were flying, Kanda was fighting Jasdero, Road was beating the crap out of the brunette girl, Skinn was holding Lulu Bell and Wisely back, the teachers were patting a crying green haired girl while the others were trying to break up the riot going on. Allen was so confused; why were they all fighting? It couldn't possibly be because of him, could it? Allen noticed that Link and Bookman were staring at him.

Allen's chest tightened. This was his fault. Allen clenched his fists and stood up, limping over to them. He caught Tyki's fist and let Lavi hit him. Blood flew out of his mouth and splat on the floor. Kanda and Jasdero were staring in shock. Road went wide eyed and Sachiko booked it out of there, being caught by a teacher after her actions. Devit and Daisya were being held back by Mr. Tiedoll and the whole cafeteria was silent. Allen could feel everyone's eyes on him just as well as he could taste the blood in his mouth. Other teachers seized Jasdero, Kanda just threatened them if they tried.

"To think that such a riot would befall upon the school." The principal, Mr. Adam Millennium, shook his head disapprovingly. "All of you, my office. If one more fist flies, you'll be suspended for a week. Lenalee, Wisely, Lulu, Skinn, Sachiko, you are all fine." Allen let go of Tyki and nearly fell over. He grabbed his crutches and they all followed Adam. Tyki rubbed Allen's back, he could feel the boy's shoulders shaking uncontrollably.

"Are you alright, Allen?" Tyki whispered.

"Tyki...would all this have been prevented if I just didn't answer Devit's questions? This is my fault, isn't it...?" Allen whispered back silently.

"No, it's not your fault."

"How?"

"It's Daisya's fault for attacking you, or Sachiko's for insulting you."

"But if I wasn't here, he wouldn't be able to attack me and she wouldn't be able to insult me."

"What do you mean?" Allen didn't answer. Adam opened his office door and they all walked in nervously. They could all barely fit in the small room.

"It's been awhile since I had so many students here in my office. Not since Neah pulled off that huge prank last year. To think that his nephew would be following in his footsteps is quite unnerving." Allen looked at the floor. "I was just kidding, Mr. Walker, please, sit, all of you." Everyone was silent. All except Lavi and 'Tyki's Table' were all thinking _Nephew?!_ "How is your leg, Mr. Walker?"

"I...I'm fine.."

"That's not the way it looks. You took quite a beating there. I'm very proud of you for not fighting back though I cannot say the same to others." Adam gave Daisya a disapproving look. "I guess it's time to deal out the punishment." Adam sighed. "You all know I do not like to punish students. Usually riots caused by students mean expulsion, but I don't think the creator of this mess will fess up, will they?" No one answered him. "That's what I thought. Let's start with you, Mr. Barry. You should learn to control your anger and not dish it out on others. You shall be suspended for two days starting next Monday. Road, Devit, Jasdero, one day of ISD. Kanda, Thursday School with Mr. Link. Tyki and Road, Thursday School with Neah. Lavi, Thursday School with Mr. Bookman." Allen found it a bit odd that their principle was calling them all by their first names except him and Daisya. "Mr. Walker..." Adam looked to be considering something. "Thursday School with Mr. Bookman."

"Hold on, Mr. Millennium, Allen didn't do anything wrong!" Tyki argued. Adam raised an eyebrow.

"Really? I do recall him grabbing you twice. Also, I think he needs to learn to stand up for himself." Allen blushed embarrassingly. "You are all dismissed. I believe you all have P.E. together, which I find quite coincidental, I will write a note to Ms. Nine." Adam scribbled a note, folded it, and gave it to Lavi. "If this ever happens again, I promise that your punishment will be much worse. Now get out, you're heating up my room." They all single-filed out of his office. No one spoke a single word but all of Allen's friends were...guarding him? If Allen knew better, he would say they were guarding him, but to him now, they just looked all bunched together.

"Allen, are you alright?" Road asked quietly. Allen nodded. He felt uncomfortable passing by the band room again, but Neah didn't come out this time, thankfully for him. All the students could be seen pointing fingers at them all. Some were giggling and Allen just felt like locking himself in a dark room and sitting there for a few hours. He wanted the sickening feeling in his stomach to go away.

P.E. was...very interesting to say the least. Ms. Nine gave him a bag of ice for his leg and a small bandage for his cheek, where Lavi punched him. He tried refusing the treatment...that was until she glared at him. Her monkey ("Beware, Allen, that monkey is a demon." Road would tell him) snarled at him and he accepted it. He had to sit on the bleachers and watch as everyone played Frisbee. Allen didn't mind not playing anyways. He was pretty sure if he tried he'd end up embarrassing himself. Nearly the whole school was talking about the fight now. Everyone was wondering who Allen was now. Allen didn't feel very reassured from their curiosity. He sat safely on the bleachers, holding the ice pack to his leg. Ms. Nine came over every once in awhile to check on him though.

Finally, the bell rang for sixth period. This was the one Allen was nervous of. Mr. Tiedoll was one of the teachers who had to stop the riot. What if he was upset with Allen? Allen hoped not. Once he walked in, it was quiet. No one was in the room but there was chalk written on the board. It read:** Select one of the canvases in the back of the room and then draw a number in the plastic container on my desk. Do not trade numbers, please. Further instructions will be explained by me and ONLY me.** Allen did as the board instructed and collected the items after setting his bag and crutches down. His canvas sat on his stool, which was lowered to where he was sitting since he could not stand.

One by one, the students walked in and followed the instructions on the board. Some of them traded numbers anyways despite the directions on the board, clarifying that that certain number was their 'lucky' number. Allen sat in the back as always. He was glad that Kanda and Lavi didn't see him in the back. Finally, the teacher walked in the room and stared at him, Lavi, and Kanda each for a few seconds. He started writing on the board their numbers. Allen's number was fourteen. He waited until Froi finished writing. The Art teacher placed the chalk down and cleared his throat, causing Allen to jump from the sudden noise.

"The numbers I have written on the board are your projects for this week. Each number describes what you will be painting. If you need a further description, please don't be afraid to raise your hand." He finished. Everyone got to work immediately. Their paint bottles were placed on the desk next to their canvases. Froi didn't hesitate to walk over to Allen. "You must've skipped out yesterday." Allen nodded.

"I don't know if I was really signed out, but I was picked up early."

"Alright, then. Yesterday, I only explained what type of materials we would be using and let the students do as they pleased." Allen nodded. "I guess you'll be sitting down while you paint, no? Your leg seems to be fragile at the moment. Are you feeling okay? I hope Daisya didn't injure you too bad."

"I...I'm fine..."

"Are you sure?" Allen gave one slight nod. "Well, I look forward to your artwork, Mr. Walker." Froi winked.

_Did Uncle Neah have a reputation around here or what?_ Allen looked up at the board. **Fourteen: Paint a picture of someone whom you've missed.** _Of course that would be my project..._Allen's stomach did an upset turmoil_...Mana..._Allen started out with some handy pencils to sketch out his artwork first. He didn't want to end up messing. _Oh God, what if he makes me show this off? What if Neah sees it?! Oh that would be the death of me._ Allen sketched his base first. He was holding his cane in front of him and had on a top hat. Allen then started on the details of his smiling, gentle face and had to keep himself from crying. He ignored the pounding in his head and stared over his canvas at the others. He didn't miss the smile Froi sent him. Allen shrugged it off and kept sketching. The background of his picture was one of the circus tents he and Mana performed in together. His eyes wandered to the clock.

"Okay, students! We have five minutes of class left, please put your unfinished canvases in the correctly numbered slots on the far left." Allen bit his lip. How the heck was he going to manage this? He was surprised when Froi himself came to help him out, his eyes were shining respectively behind his round glasses. "Not many artists sketch out their picture before they paint. That was clever thinking, Mr. Walker." Allen nodded. Froi took his canvas and stared at it for awhile before placing it in the number fourteen cupboard.

"Thank you, Mr. Tiedoll." Said teacher nodded before disappearing in the back room.

Allen held onto the desk to stand up and threw his bag over his left shoulder and grabbed his crutches, ready to hop out when needed. The bell finally rang for seventh period. For once, someone was in the classroom before him. It was a man with a white mask over his face. The mask completely covered his face, including the white cloth that covered his eyes. Allen waved at the old man. He waved back.

"You must be Mr. Walker. Tell me, why weren't you here yesterday?"

"Well, I was sir, I was signed out early. Are you Mr. Guzol?"

"I am, and please, just call me Guzol."

"Oh...it's nice to meet you sir." Guzol nodded and chimed a small bell. A girl with long, blonde hair and baby blue eyes entered the room. She had bandages all around her head and the bottom covered up her entire top left face, including her eye.

"I didn't think there would be any students in class yet. You can call me Lala." She smiled brightly at him.

"Lala is my assistant. She will start teaching here when I die in a few months."

"Oh, Guzol, please don't talk like that."

"I'm sorry, Lala darling."

"Allen~, you're in my Choir class too? What a joyful day this has turned out to be~!" Road hugged Allen awkwardly because of his crutches.

"Good afternoon, Road." Allen greeted.

"The twins also have this class with us!" Road cheered. "Oh, hello Lala!" She waved excitedly at Lala.

"Hello, dear Road."

"Allen! Finally we have a class with you!" Devit slung his arm around Allen's shoulder, causing him to wince. "Don't worry about that Daisya guy; if he lays one finger on you, I'll kick his ass!"

"Devit! That is inappropriate language in this classroom." Devit gave Lala a sheepish grin.

"W-wouldn't you get suspended though? I wouldn't want you to get in trouble for my sake-"

"Hey, what can I say? Family sticks together." Road gave Devit a warning look.

"Family?" Allen asked slowly, tilting his head. Then again, it seemed like all of their friends were actually just with each other...their own family. Maybe it accidentally slipped and he mistook Allen for family? It still sounded nice, despite the fact that it wasn't true.

"Uh..." he and Jasdero replied intelligently.

"Anyways! Allen, you need to show us your beautiful singing voice! Can't you play piano? Come! We have a lot of sheet music!" Road directed him the other way, throwing the topic off course.

"How do you know I can play piano?" Allen asked while following her to said black instrument.

"Uh..." _They're hiding something...how do they know I can play piano? Only Neah and Cross knew that...and what's this whole deal about family? I don't remember being related to them...they do look like Neah, but I've never met them before nor am I really their family...I am adopted, after all..._ "Here! I'll take those." Road took his crutches and sat him down on the bench. He looked at the score to see the piece 'Because of You'. Road's eyes widened at the piece. "I can pick a different piece if you want! Here, I'll be right back!" Road skipped away. Allen looked at the score and placed his fingers on the keyboard. He ghosted his fingers across the piano, not realizing that he was playing until he felt the entire class staring at him. Oh great, might as well finish the song...Road had a guilty look plastered on her pouting face. Allen sang anyways, ignoring the eyes around him.

"I will not make the same mistakes that you did, I will not let myself cause my heart so much misery." _What a lovely song._ Allen thought sarcastically. "I will not break the way you did, it felt so hard. I've learned the hard way to never let it get that far." Allen's playing increased to more difficult notes during the chorus. "Because of you, I never strayed too far from the sidewalk. Because of you, I learned to play on the safe side so I don't get hurt. Because of you, I find it hard to trust not only me, but everyone around me—because of you. I am afraid..."

The song reminded him painfully of Mana, but he kept playing despite the harsh, yet blissful, memories that reoccurred in his mind. Luckily, his jumbled up mind didn't prevent him from hitting wrong notes or hit the wrong key while he sang.

"I lose my way and its not too long before you point it out. I cannot cry, because I know that's weakness in your eyes. I'm forced to fake a smile alive everyday of my life. My heart can't possibly break when it wasn't even whole to start with."

Allen's throat started tightening up but, oddly enough, it didn't affect him when he sang the chorus. Usually, Allen wouldn't sing in front of anyone, but the small group of people around him looked fascinated.

"I am afraid...I watched you die, I heard you cry every night in your sleep. I was so young you should've known better than to lean on me. You never thought of anyone else, you only saw your pain. And now I'm crying in the middle of the night, gonna see your pain."

Allen was amazed himself with how high his voice could actually go without breaking. Maybe he was just too serious about the song? Yeah, seemed like it from the lyrics. He broke out into the chorus again. It started out softer, but eventually ascended back into an emotional phase.

"Because of you, I never strayed too far from the sidewalk. Because of you, I learned to play on the safe side so I don't get hurt." And here's where two new lyrics were introduced into the song. "Because of you, I try my hardest just to forget everything. Because of you, I don't know how to let anyone else in. Because of you, I'm ashamed of my life, because it's empty. Because of you, I am afraid...because of you...because of you..."

The room slowly grew quiet as he ended the song. Road was crying silently and everyone else just looked awestruck. Allen frowned as Devit patted Road on the back. _Was my singing that bad?_ Suddenly, out of nowhere, the room erupted into applause. Lala herself was crying, which confused Allen greatly. If he sang well, then why were they crying? He knew the song meant something to him, but he didn't expect it to mean something to anyone else.

"Beautiful, Mr. Walker!" Guzol exclaimed. Allen didn't even realize that he was tired until he started panting and felt the sweat beading down his forehead.

"R-really?" His voice chose now to crack. Wonderful.

"Of course! You still have a little farther to go on the high pitch, but that was excellent!" Guzol complimented. Allen relaxed his shoulders. Hopefully, he'd never have to sing that song again.

"Th-thank you..." Allen murmured softly.

"Take a break for today, Walker. The rest of you, let's do our breathing exercises!" Guzol clapped.

The rest of Choir class was made up of breathing exercises and singing their Alma Mater and The Star Spangled Banner. Apparently, some students got to choose if they wanted to sing at the school football games. Only some of the students chose to sign up. Allen certainly didn't want to. His knees would probably collapse if he had to sing in front of the entire school that knew all about the fight. Wait, make that two schools.

At last, eighth period arrived. Allen had Study Hall in the cafeteria with Komui Lee. He sat down at the lunch table far away from the teacher, who was eyeing him skeptically. For the next hour, Allen wouldn't have to do anything. He didn't really have any homework, though Guzol encouraged him to play more piano ever since Allen told him he had his own piano at home. Allen sat his bag and crutches down before seating himself as well.

He pulled out a thick, white notebook he had been writing in for three years. In middle school, he used to doodle on the cover of it. It had piano marks on the side and music notes coming out of it. In the center of the notebook, it was boldly screaming: MANA. Other doodles littered the sides. One was a glowing sword that had creatures coming out of it. There was also a hammer surrounded in flames. Those were small doodles and in the bottom left and right corners. The rest consisted of music notes that emitted from the piano. The importance of this notebook verified greatly to Allen. He would write to Mana in it. It was silly to do, he knew and Mana couldn't even read it, but who else was he supposed to vent his feelings to?

_Dear Mana,_

_Today was the second day of school! Even though it only seemed like the other half of the first. Master Cross signed me out early because there was a dog suck in a bear trap underneath our house. Weird, right? After I helped him out, I got stuck! It hurt a lot but I'm doing okay, even though I have to walk around in a boot and crutches. The dog was a stray and Master got him for me (he really cares!). His name is Timcanpy. I think it's going to be less lonely with him next to me now._

_Anyways, there was a big fight at school today. I don't want to get into the details, but now I have a Thursday School with Mr. Bookman. He's Lavi's grandfather...I think...Lavi is a Senior who just happened to have my locker last year. He tampered with it to make it swing at me, but I fixed it. I can't do anything in P.E. for two weeks because of my leg. Today I had to play the piano in Choir today. The song I sang kinda reminded me of you though, it made me miss you a lot. I also miss Neah, who just happens to be our band director. I haven't confronted him yet though...he probably doesn't like me since its partly my fault you..._

_It seems like high school is going to be a lot busier than middle school so I might not be able to write to you as much as I used to. Sorry about that. I'll write to you soon if I get the chance!_

_-Allen Walker_

Allen cut off and skipped a line after writing the paragraph before. He just couldn't write out the rest of that sentence. Even throughout the three years Mana had died, he still hadn't fully grasped the fact that Mana was gone. It was silly, but that's just how he was. Allen sighed and closed the notebook.

High school was definitely going to be harder than middle school.

Maybe he should just start avoiding people more often? Including his friends he had now...

That would work. All he had to do was not speak to anyone else or make any direct eye contact with anyone.

"What's all that writing for? Are you writing a book?"

Fail.

* * *

><p><strong>I'd personally like to thank SnowNeko13 and xXlovinlavenXx for reviewing as well as those of you who've followed and favorited the story. I'm not completely sure where I'm going to end up with this, but your reviews, follows, and favorites of the story encourage me to keep writing it so thanks a bunch! :)<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

Allen instantly closed the notebook and looked up to see the green haired girl who was crying from the fight before. He held the notebook protectively close to his chest. He didn't think anyone was actually watching him, let alone sitting there. When had she even gotten there? "Can I see it?" Allen shook his head quickly. "What is it then?" Allen averted his gaze, hoping the girl would become uninterested in him and just leave him alone. Once again, his plan failed. "My name is Lenalee Lee, what's yours?" Lenalee held out her hand, smiling. _Lee...does that mean she's Komui's relative of some sort?_ Allen stared down at the hand before looking up at Lenalee's sincere smile.

"Allen..." He replied softly.

"Allen, what?" Allen averted his gaze.

"Aren't you supposed to be in band, Lenalee darling?" Komui sat beside the Chinese girl. Allen swallowed nervously. If he said the wrong thing to either of them, he could be in for it.

"Brother! You're scaring him!"

"Huh?" Komui looked at Allen. "Oh, hey." He said casually. Allen bit his tongue. "Weren't you one of the students in that riot today? Allen's jaw tightened. He didn't answer the purple haired Chinese man. What if he screwed up? What if he didn't like Allen because of the fight? What if he failed him (however you fail Study Hall) for saying the wrong words? Just then the bell rang for school to be released. _Saved by the bell!_ Allen grabbed his bag, stuffing the notebook inside.

"Well, I hope you feel better." Lenalee smiled at him, handing him his crutches. Allen took them.

"Thank you..." He put the crutches under his armpits and hopped out of the school. He had to take the walkway instead of the stairs, where kids would sit on the railing. Meaning he had to walk past them. They were all chattering and stared at him as he passed by. Allen gulped. He looked up to see Cross' red rusty truck and clicked his way over to the parking lot. Once he got to the truck, he threw his bag in the passenger's seat and his crutches in the back, where Timcanpy was chilling.

"Damn dog wouldn't stop howling, I thought I was going to go crazy." Allen smiled and pet Timcanpy before hopping in the truck. "So who hit you?"

"Huh?"

"Your face." Allen took the mirror from on the roof of the truck and looked in it, seeing the bandage over the now-purple bruise where Lavi hit him.

"Oh, that one was an accident." Allen replied. Cross grumbled while he started the truck. He paused his grumbling and backtracked on what Allen just said.

"That one? There's more?"

"Yeah...I was trying to stop a fight and someone attacked me for it." The teen explained. Cross paused again. He was staring out the windshield but he wasn't moving. Allen looked at him curiously. He turned to face Allen with a hardened expression.

"You didn't fight back, did you?"

"Huh? Oh...no...I didn't..." Allen looked out the windshield as well.

"I knew it. Otherwise, you could've kicked that wussy guy's ass." The teen stayed silent at Cross' words. Didn't Cross know that he didn't like to hurt people? Why couldn't he understand that?

They were still in the parking lot ten minutes later. Cross was flipping off every student he possibly could while Allen hid his face behind his hands. Cross was about to finally pull out of the parking lot when a nice, black mustang pulled out in front of them instead. "What the fuck?!" Cross honked the horn loudly. Allen blushed a bright red when he realized it was Bookman driving in the car. Lavi was gazing at the questioningly from the passenger's seat. Timcanpy started barking wildly. Bookman looked over and Allen blushed even redder, hiding his face in his arm. "Shut the hell up, Tim!" Cross shouted and peered at Bookman. "Hey, I think I know that guy! Brat, what's that old guy's name?"

"Kill me now..." Allen replied hoarsely.

"What was that? I didn't hear you."

"Bookman." He said louder.

"I do know that guy! He taught me when I was in high school! Old geezer."

"I thought you dropped out?"

"When I was a Sophomore, yeah." Cross waved at Bookman, who was sweat dropping. "We also worked together when I was a cop." Cross rolled his window down. Allen paled..._he's not doing what I think he's doing...oh god..._"Hey there!" Allen blushed again and went back to hiding.

"Hello, Mr. Cross." Bookman muttered. Lavi, who was sitting in the passenger seat, peeked next to Bookman.

"We used to work together, didn't we?" Cross asked, just for confirmation. Bookman nodded.

"In more ways than one, would you like to catch up?"

"My schedule isn't full. Let's go meet at my house. I believe its not far from where you used to live."

"I've lived in the same house for my entire life."

"Damn...okay, well I'm sure you know where I live." Cross gave him a hand sign and Bookman drove off.

Cross slammed on the gas when someone else tried to cut in front of him. He flipped the driver off, which just so happened to be Sachiko, and kept on driving. Somewhere deep inside, Allen was smirking victoriously. On the outside, he was blushing. Just why did Cross have to be so rude to everyone? He did realize that Allen went to school here, right? They drove for a few minutes before parking in the driveway of the house. Allen opened the door and jumped out, holding onto the door the entire time. Allen took his crutches from out of the back of the truck and Cross popped the tailgate down. Timcanpy barked happily and jumped out. When Cross went to go unlock the door for Bookman, he saw Mother standing there.

"What are you doing here, Mother?"

"I just came to come check on that dog. You didn't give me a very good impression yesterday. So where's that boy of yours you were talking about yesterday?" Timcanpy interrupted her by barking loudly. They looked over to see Allen, who fell on his butt. He was trying to get the dog to be quiet.

"Tim, quiet down." Allen hushed and held onto the truck, picking himself up. He bent down and picked his crutches up. Gravel was really hard to crutch on.

"Is that him?"

"Yeah, hey, I've got guests coming so are you staying or what?" Just as he said that, Bookman pulled in the driveway. He looked agitated from the looks of it. Lavi was talking rather loudly, even as he got out of the car. Allen passed by Lavi, not even batting an eye. Cross noticed this and looked at the sheepish Lavi suspiciously. Allen gave a glance to Mother but went inside without a word. Once inside, Allen clicked over to his room and put his book bag in his room. Once he came out, Timcanpy confronted him, licking his hand. Allen smiled and pet his dog. He brought his hand back when he realized all the dried mud all over Timcanpy.

"You need a bath." Allen told the dog, patting him on the head.

"Not in the bathtub! Get that kiddy pool in the garage and bathe him in that!" Cross called from the porch. "You, redhead, help him."

"Huh?" Lavi replied dumbly.

"You heard me. Can't have a cripple doing all the work, can we?"

"Lavi, do as he says." Bookman said strictly.

"Yeah, yeah, I get it." Lavi waltzed over to the garage and dragged out the blue pool. Allen clicked over.

"The hose is in the backyard."

"Got it!" Lavi heaved the pool to the back yard and ran over to the hose. He turned it and it wouldn't budge. "I think its broken."

"You're twisting it the wrong way."

"Oh...I knew that!"

_Of course you did..._Allen thought sarcastically, giving Lavi an amused look. Lavi was quite surprised that Allen had that kind of look on. He'd only ever seen the boy with a blank or ashamed look on his face. Allen widened his eyes and looked away. _Crap...I just let him see through me...come on Allen, keep that mask up..._ he clicked over to where the hose was thrown out beside the pool. He put his crutches on some dry grass and sat down in the water filled grass. Lavi blinked._ Is he trying to get dirty?_ The redhead wondered. Allen put the hose in the pool. He had his legs sprawled out.

"Can you go get the dish soap?"

"Isn't the dish soap for dishes?" Allen stared at him, unamused.

"The dish soap we have cleans animals as well."

"Why?"

"It just does..."

"Okay, I'll go get it!" Lavi ran inside the back door and came back with the blue bottle of Dawn dish soap. Allen whistled and Timcanpy came running. He jumped in the pool and laid down, splashing water all over Allen. Lavi swore he could see his mouth tug upwards. Lavi threw the bottle and Allen caught it. "Nice catch!" Lavi complimented. He didn't sit down though. He didn't want to get his pants wet. Allen started pouring the blue soap all over Timcanpy's fur. He rubbed it and bubbles were created. Timcanpy stared at him expectantly.

"What?" At first, Lavi thought Allen was talking to him. Then he saw the look on the dog's face. Not many dogs could make facial expressions, but this one sure could. Timcanpy barked and lunged forward, teething his shirt and dragging him in the pool with him. "Uwah!" Allen tried pushing himself up out of the pool, but ended up slipping and face planting the water. Lavi started laughing, causing the younger to blush. Timcanpy just nudged him. Allen sighed. "Well, I guess there's no helping it." Allen started undoing his boot and threw it with his crutches. He sat up on his knees and started scrubbing the dog all over.

"Your dog is crazy." Lavi laughed. Allen looked over at the teen to see him rolling up his pants.

"What are you..."

"I wanna join too~!" Lavi ran over and jumped in. He thought he would be the ninja he was and stick the landing. Too bad for him, the bottom of the kiddy pool was a bit more slippery than he imagined. He ended up slipping and falling on his back, splashing water everywhere. Timcanpy got excited and started jumping around while Lavi looked straight ahead, stunned. He rubbed his back and grumbled. "That wasn't the plan." Then, the most unexpected thing happened. Allen started laughing.

Personally, Lavi thought Allen was one of those closed-off, depressed kids who never show emotions around others. He didn't expect the too kind teen to be laughing at him. Lavi looked stunned for a few seconds before he started laughing as well. Timcanpy barked and started shaking his fur violently. Water and soap flew all over the two.

"Ugh, Tim!" Allen shielded his face from the dog's violent shakes. Lavi looked at Timcanpy and felt stinging in his eyes.

"AGH MAH EYES THEY BURN!" Lavi yelled. Allen was still giggling from before. He grabbed the hose and stuck his index finger in the metal opening. Water shot out like a rocket as Allen rinsed him off. Timcanpy jumped out of the kiddy pool and ran around to dry himself off. Allen crawled out of the pool and over to the house, knocking. Cross opened it up and looked down.

"What the hell are you doing on the floor?"

Lavi's stomach dropped. What if this guardian of his was the reason he always shut himself away? He watched, bemused, as Allen didn't look offended at all.

"I'm all wet."

"Really? I couldn't tell! Go get in the bath, I'll get your clothes. Didn't I tell you not to take your boot off?"

"It was either that or it got wet." Allen said, crawling into the house.

He turned to the right and crawled in the bathroom. Cross grumbled and motioned for Lavi to come over. Lavi obeyed and ran over, slipping in the mud in the process. Cross snorted at Lavi's scowl. Lavi stood up and pouted but ran over to Cross, despite the fact that running made him slip previously. He kicked his muddy boots off before going inside.

"What's up?"

"I don't know how you did that, but can you go in Allen's room and get some of his clothes, I don't think I'd feel right going in there."

"Huh? Okay, I guess...but what did I do?"

"You made him laugh."

"What's so weird about laughing?"

"Allen doesn't laugh...not since..."

"Not since...?"

"Allen hasn't laughed in three years. Just, go get his clothes. Oh, and don't forget the gloves or he'll snap at you." _Snap at me? Why would he snap at me?_ Lavi nodded and ran to the direction of Cross' finger. "Make sure it's long sleeved too!" Cross shouted at him.

Lavi was beyond confused now. _The kid doesn't laugh for three years until I fuck up, and he wears gloves and long sleeves? It feels great out today..._Lavi twisted the silver knob and walked in. He didn't know what to expect, but he surely didn't expect this. Allen's room was...white. White bed ("Whoa! His bed is huge!") and walls, white carpet. His dresser, desk, and bedside table were all white as well. For a minute there, he thought he walked into an insane asylum. He shrugged and walked over to the dresser. A picture frame caught his eye...or should he say quite a few picture frames. In every single frame, Neah or some other man he guessed was Mana (Neah's brother) was in it. Those two, and a little brunet boy. _He seems to avoid Neah most of the time...I wonder if something happened between them..._

Lavi shook his head, it wasn't his business if Allen didn't want him to know about it. He noticed a box sitting in the corner of the room but thought it was best to ignore it. He opened Allen's drawers one by one and took out a white, button up, long sleeve shirt and black pants. He remembered to grab gloves as well. He felt awkward grabbing his boxers though. Lavi closed the door behind him and headed to the bathroom door.

"Ah, ah, ah, don't go in there!" Cross stopped him just in time and yanked the clothes out of Lavi's hands before steering him in the other direction.

"But you told me to-"

"Just go sit somewhere or something!" Cross shooed him away and knocked on the door before entering. Lavi heard Cross curse loudly inside but he ignored it and went to go sit on the couch.

"Don't sit there, Lavi, you'll get the couch all muddy. Go clean yourself up." Bookman scolded.

"Where?"

"In the other bathroom. I'll get you some clothes to wear."

"Where exactly is this other bathroom?"

"It's down that hall, beside the kitchen. Last door on the right."

"Okay!"

Lavi disappeared into the dark hallway. He walked in the other bathroom, which was much nicer and had jets in the tub._ That looks so fun! If Allen and I become friends after this, I've so got to try those out! I wonder though...is this Cross' bathroom?_ Lavi grabbed a white towel and put it down so he wouldn't dirty the floor if it was Cross' bathroom. He paused when another box was standing out to him in the corner of his eye. He went over to the door and locked it silently. He felt like he was peeping, but his curiosity got the better of him.

He grabbed the box from behind the toilet ("Ew...who would put a box here?") and stared at the top of it in puzzlement. **KEEP OUT ALLEN.** _Why would Cross not want Allen to see this?_ Lavi peeked inside and took out the first thing he saw, which was, get this, a picture frame. He stared at it in shock. It was all the students that Neah favored in band, also the people who sat at Tyki's Table. Neah was holding a little brunet boy high in the air while the others were doing their own thing. Road was gushing at the boy, who was smiling widely. Sudden realization hit Lavi.

That boy was Allen.

_He doesn't have that scar...and his hair isn't white either...just how old is this picture?_ Lavi turned the picture around and saw that it dated back three years ago. _Allen hasn't laughed in three years...what is going on here?_ Lavi dug deeper through the box. They were all picture frames. A different person was holding Allen in each picture. Lavi caught something white deep in the box and pulled it out. Lavi deadpanned. A hospital bill? Lavi took the paper that was clipped together with the bill.

_Mr. Cross,_

_Allen came out of shock a few days ago. He doesn't seem to remember anyone in the room except for Neah. He still remembers his father but that is it. I'm sorry to say that you should probably keep him away from them for awhile until his memory returns. Until then, make sure you keep all the photographs away from him. If he does happen to see them, we're not specifically sure what would happen, but he might have a violent reaction._

_-Head Nurse._

The note only confused Lavi further. He shook his head and put all the items in the exact places they were in before. He turned on the shower and quickly got in. Who knows how long he was sitting there. Cross could've gotten suspicious and walked in on him at any moment, locked or not. Who knows, he could've had a key that unlocked all doors in the house. He hurried with washing up and turned to shower off. There was a small note that was slipped through the door. Lavi's heart raced at the small piece of paper. He nervously picked it up and read it, relieved when he saw his grandfather's writing.

_Tell me of your findings later in private. Try not to snoop around too much. The clothes you'll be wearing are outside the door. You'll be staying the night tonight. Wake up early tomorrow so we can head out without waking up the others. I shall hear no complaints out of you. I want you to learn a bit more about Allen and Cross' relationship._

Lavi noticed that Bookman wrote 'you'll' and not 'we'll.' He crumpled the paper and unlocked the door to retrieve his clothes. There was a pair of black sweat pants and a large white t-shirt. None of the clothes looked like they were his, though. _Whose clothes are these? I wonder if they're Cross' because I know I wouldn't be able to fit in Allen's clothes. Unless they have extra clothes for guests when they come over? Oh well, its best not to ask too many questions in the beginning._ Lavi grabbed a bag out of the dispenser ("Why do they have a bag dispenser in a bathroom?") and put his muddy clothes in the bag. He tied it up and walked out in the living room.

Allen was sitting on the floor, brushing Timcanpy. Cross was on the couch next to Ms. Nine with a class of wine in his hand, throwing his other around Klaud. Ms. Nine was rolling her eyes as she sipped her wine as well. Mother was watching Allen on the other couch and Bookman was standing there creepily. _What the heck is Ms. Nine doing here? _"Bookman, whats your little Junior doing here?" Klaud asked.

"I wouldn't leave him alone at the house by himself." Bookman lied. He was counting on Lavi to get some information about Allen. Why, Lavi really didn't know.

"Even though he was the one who hit Allen?" She questioned, causing Cross to look up from his glass. Allen had stopped brushing Timcanpy. Lavi gulped nervously. This wasn't good.

"Actually, Ms. Nine, Allen let Lavi hit him so he wouldn't hit Tyki; therefore, it was Allen's fault for being hit." Bookman informed

"At least he was trying to be mature and stop the fight." She muttered. Cross eyed Allen and Lavi skeptically, but he didn't say anything.

"So Bookman, since you seem to know everything, who was the one that gave Allen all those bruises?" Cross asked, causing Allen to stand up and leave the room. Bookman looked at Lavi. Lavi nodded and followed after Allen.

"It was Daisya Barry." Bookman replied.

Klaud scowled.

"Ugh, such a troublemaker, he is. He's worse than that damn apprentice of yours, Bookman."

"What was his punishment?" Cross asked.

"Suspension for two days."

"I honestly think it should've been more since there ended up being a riot because of it. Adam is too soft on his students."

"A riot?" Cross asked, surprised.

"Indeed, it seems that boy of yours has the Millennium's on his side. Jasdero, Devit, Tyki, and Road were all fighting after Allen was attacked."

"What?!" Bookman raised an eyebrow at Cross' sudden exclamation. The redheaded man cleared his throat. "What kind of social contact have they been having?"

"It seems that Allen has been trying to avoid everyone. They seem so persistent to become his friends though. Do you know why that is, Cross?"

"No clue." Cross replied instantly.

"I believe it's because they're Neah's relatives."

"What does Neah have to do with this?"

"He's the Band director at the high school." Cross' eyes widened. "You didn't know? Allen seems to know very well and for some reason, he's been avoiding Neah. Do you know why that is?"

"I didn't even know Neah taught at the God damn school, let alone the reason Allen's been avoiding him."

"It is mysterious, isn't it? Why would Allen be avoiding his own uncle? I think you're hiding something, Cross. What is it?" Cross scowled at Bookman. That man was always too sharp for his own good.

"This is a get together, you guys, lets not fight and try to get along, shall we?" Kalud interrupted, thankfully. "I wouldn't want you two getting on the wrong foot with each other. It would cause mild inconvenience for me." Mother stood up, grabbing her cane.

"Well, I must be off. I have a garden to tend to. I'll come over every once and awhile to check on the dog. It seems like this Allen kid really needs his company. Goodbye Cross."

"Goodbye, Mother."

Mother closed the door behind her and Klaud turned to look at Cross with a questionable look.

"She's your mother?" The blonde woman asked. Cross snorted.

"No, she just goes by that."

"Oh. So how about we all talk about good times, hm?" They all had a small smile on their lips.

Good times.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, in Allen's room, Lavi was sitting on Allen's bed. He followed Allen into his room earlier and saw that Allen was sitting against the wall on his bed. He had that lonely look in his eyes again but when Timcanpy trotted over, his face brightened and he pet the dog. Lavi came over and sat on Allen's bed. Allen didn't speak to him though.<p>

"So hey...sorry for...hitting you."

"It's okay."

Silence came without another word again. Lavi broke that silence.

"So...truce?" Allen gave him a curious look, but it was replaced with a blank one.

"Why are you in here?" He asked.

"Because my Gramps will probably end up humiliating me if I go out there." Lavi half-lied. It was true that his grandfather would find some way to embarrass him, but that wasn't the reason he was in here.

"Oh..."

"They're probably going to be talking for awhile, so how about we do something?"

"Like what?"

"I dunno, but lets not just sit here and do nothing!" Lavi's eyes scouted around Allen. His eyes slowly traveled down to his boot. He tilted his head at it. "Can I see your leg?"

"Why would you want to see it?"

"Because I'm curious. Plus, my Gramps says that I need to be skilled in 'Medical Arts' of some sort so this could be practice! I'll even wrap it back up for you!"

"...I guess...but I can wrap my own leg."

"No way! Then what would the point of practice be?"

"...fine..." Allen undid the Velcro and carefully took his boot off, leaning it against his bed. He started unwrapping it and Lavi's eyes widened at the wound. It was still healing and you could actually see how deep it got. Lavi winced and poked at it. "Hey, ow! Don't poke it!" Allen smacked Lavi's hand. Lavi chuckled. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing, I just didn't think you would actually hit me."

"Wh-what? It didn't really hurt did it-"

"Oh hush, I'm not that weak. So, where's your medical stuff?"

"In the bathroom." Allen informed, getting a grown out of Lavi.

"Do I have to go back out there?" He whinked, Allen nodded.

"It's right across from my room, I'm sure you'll be fine."

"I guess I'll just have to use my ninja powers!" Allen raised his eyebrow at Lavi. Lavi grinned and poked his head out of Allen's room, looking both ways before tip toeing across the carpet and opened the cupboard under the sink. Bingo. Lavi grabbed them and booked it for Allen's room.

"La-"

Slam.

Allen's head twisted to the doorway quickly and he stared at Lavi, who was up against Allen's door. Allen raised his eyebrow again and Lavi ran over and flopped on Allen's bed. He sat up and crawled over to Allen, opening up the kit he grabbed. He grabbed out some ointment and squeezed some into his hand. He rubbed his hands together.

"I feel like one of those evil scientists that rub their hands together before they experiment on something."

"You're not going to experiment on me, are you?" Allen asked playfully. Lavi snickered.

"Nah, I'll leave that to Komui."

"Komui...he's my Study Hall teacher."

"Really? He's also a Chemistry teacher for the Juniors—or Seniors who failed that class. Lenalee went to go see him today, did you see her too?" Allen nodded.

"She actually said hi to me..."

"Yeah, she's all nice and stuff. I think she likes Kanda but I can't be too sure. I think Kanda's got the hots for Alma though if ya know what I mean." Lavi said with a wink.

Allen had no idea who the hell Alma was.

"Kanda...he seems..." Allen started slowly but paused. He didn't want Lavi to hate him for insulting his friends.

"Evil."

"Huh?"

"Yuu-chan is very evil."

"Yuu-chan?"

"Yuu is his first name. He's Japanese, so I call him Yuu-chan to piss him off." Allen sweat dropped. "Anyways! I'm going to rub this stuff on ya so don't freak out if its cold."

Allen expected pain to befall him as Lavi started rubbing his leg, but it actually felt kind of relaxing. He faintly blushed and looked away. After his face had decided to cool down, he looked over at Lavi. Lavi's eyes were narrowed and his lips were pursed like he was trying to figure something out.

"Allen?"

"Hm?"

"Do you shave your legs?"

"Huh?"

"You don't have hair on your legs."

"...am I supposed to?" Lavi's eyes widened.

"Um, yes. Everyone has hair on their legs."

"Oh...is it bad that I don't?"

"No..." Lavi said uncertainly. "It's just kinda weird. Girls shave their legs all the time. Guys don't though...I know some guys shave their legs but I've never met a guy who didn't have hair on his legs." Lavi grabbed Allen's right arm and brushed the sleeve up. "By golly, you don't have hair on your arms either! Everyone has hair on their arms." Allen yanked his arm away and covered it up quickly. He felt relieved when Lavi didn't see the scars on his wrist.

"Well I'm sorry if I'm so weird." Allen muttered.

"No, it's actually quite interesting. Do you have hair anywhere?"

"On my head?" Allen supplied, a little confused by Lavi's question. Lavi rolled his eyes.

"Well duh. I mean...do you have hair anywhere else?"

"I don't know if I want to answer that..."

"Why?"

"Well, you're acting like it's bad that I don't have hair on my legs...speaking of my leg, can you wrap it up since you're apparently done now?"

"Oh yeah, sure!" Lavi grabbed the bandages and expertly wrapped his leg up, still talking while he did it. "So, are you going to answer my question?"

"No."

"Why not?! I know a lot of girls who would kill to have no hair on their legs."

"I'm not a girl!"

"Relax, relax! I never said you were, jeez. I'm just curious though...c'mon, tell me!"

"I don't."

"You don't what?"

"You know what!"

"You don't have hair anywhere?!"

"No...I don't get the point of this topic!" Allen crossed his arms stubbornly and looked away.

"Have you had hair anywhere else before?"

"No..." Lavi's eyes bulged.

"So, you're absolutely certain you don't have hair anywhere."

"What, do you want me to show you?!" Lavi lit up in red.

"NO!"

"Why are you blushing?"

"I'm not blushing! I don't blush!" Lavi threw a pillow at Allen. Allen caught the pillow and hugged it against his chest. He was taken aback again when Allen started to giggle.

"Wait...where am I supposed to have hair?" He asked with a small frown.

"N-no where! Don't worry about it! You just be your hairless self!" Allen laughed and gave him a suspicious look.

"Okay..."

The room became silent again and Allen began to wonder what his and Lavi's relationship was. Were they friends? Acquaintances maybe? Road told him that Tyki and Lavi used to like each other, but do they still like each other now? If Allen became Lavi's friend, would Tyki hate him? What did Lavi think of all this? How did he think of Allen? Did he think Allen was weird? Normal? Did he think like Daisya and think he was a freak too? It wasn't his fault that his hair was white...but Lavi nor anyone else knew that except for Cross and Mana. Would Allen ever tell Lavi about his hair? Would they even become friends? Allen was surprised he had friends now...it never seemed like anyone wanted to be his friend in the past...

"Hey Allen?"

"Hm?"

Allen could definitely use a lot more friends like Lavi. Lavi actually made him comfortable around him. He couldn't say why, but Lavi just seemed to be a friendly person that Allen could relax around. He didn't have that familial feeling like he did around Tyki and the others, but whatever the feeling Lavi had, Allen liked it. It made him want to smile again. Sure, he did smile at times, but Lavi just made him want to smile more. It was like Allen needed to smile.

"Can we be friends?"

* * *

><p><strong>Cliffhangers are my thing if you couldn't tell x3 I have the next two chapters written already but I just want to see if this story will actually get anywhere before I post them. To know if it's going to go anywhere I need advice from you guys! :3 Thank you kurie-tibiti and RAGNOROKgirl564 for reviewing :D<strong>


	4. Chapter 4

"Uh..." _It's like he actually read my mind..._Allen thought.

"I mean, I know I hit you and all, but I'm really sorry! Please~!" Lavi begged, hugging Allen around his stomach. Allen meanwhile was astonished. He didn't think Lavi wanted to be his friend that bad. Did he really find Allen interesting?

"I guess..."

"You guess?" Lavi pouted. "Would I be that bad of a friend?"

"No! It's just..." _How would your friends react..._ "...never mind..." Lavi noticed that Allen wanted to say something else, but cut himself off. He pretended not to notice.

"Cool! So now we're buds! Does this mean I can sleep in your bed?"

"What?!" Allen exclaimed. Lavi laughed shortly.

"I don't wanna sleep on the couch!" Lavi pouted. "C'mon! Your bed is huge!"

"I...I..." Allen hesitated. "...okay..."

"Yus!" Lavi looked at the clock on Allen's wall. It was 5:30—or around that area. "Say, Allen. What are we eating for dinner?" Allen shrugged. "Well whatever it is, it smells like charcoal." Allen sniffed the air.

"Master!" Allen shouted. "What are you burning out there!?"

Lavi narrowed his eyes at nothing. Allen just said Master. So is this some kind of master and apprentice thing? Could it be that Cross is training Allen for something...I wonder if Bookman might have a clue...

"Shut up! I got hungry!" They both heard Cross shout through the wooden door from in the kitchen. Allen sighed and grabbed his crutches, he didn't bother putting his boot back on. Lavi opened the door for him and Allen nodded in thanks. He watched as Allen and Cross started arguing with each other. Do they hate each other? If so, then why is Cross teaching him? Is he forced to teach him?

"How do you even manage to burn macaroni?!"

"Well, Mr. Perfect, if you think you can do it, be my guest!"

"I will."

"In crutches?"

"In crutches." Allen snatched the box out of Cross' hand. Not twenty minutes later did Allen serve Cross a delicious, piping hot bowl of cheesy macaroni.

"How the hell...?" Cross accepted the bowl and grumbled.

"Just order out if you're hungry next time." Bookman stared at Allen, clearly impressed. Klaud was giggling at Cross' lack of skill in cooking.

"Speaking of ordering out..." Cross replied, grumbling as he twirled the fork around in the bowl, "...if you're hungry you can order out. I'll answer the door but you've got to pay." Allen nodded.

"Of course." Allen walked back to the room where Lavi was sitting on top of the bed.

"What was he burning?"

"Macaroni."

"That's possible?! I'm not even that bad at cooking!"

"For him that's possible." Lavi snorted and Allen sat on his bed again, returning his crutches to the place they were before: against the wall. Allen pulled out his phone and clicked the 'p' button and pressed call. His phone was a simple Blackberry, nothing too fancy. It was as close as he would ever get to a smart phone.

"Hello, this is Panda Express, how can we take your order?"

"Delivery."

"Okay, your order please?"

"Sweet and sour chicken plate and honey chicken plate."

Lavi stared at Allen quizzically. Who was he calling? He listened as Allen gave whoever it was their address. It then clicked that Allen had called a restaurant. Allen hung up the phone and stared at Lavi, whose jaw was dropping, bemusedly. Why does this kid have a restaurant on speed dial?! Just how many meals did Cross fuck up?

"What?"

"I can't believe you have a restaurant on speed dial."

"Hey, I like Chinese food and I can't cook on crutches."

"Right...let me see your phone."

"Why?"

"Just lemme see it~!" Lavi whined childishly. Allen grudgingly gave it to him. Lavi's eyes widened when he opened up the Contacts. Nearly every one of Allen's contacts were restaurants. There were some that he had never even heard of before! They didn't even sound like they existed. "Okay, do you have any other contacts that aren't restaurants?" Allen blushed.

"I have Cross in there!" Allen defended.

"I thought you'd at least have Tyki's number in here."

"I don't use my phone a lot..."

"I can tell." Lavi started typing in his own number.

"What are you doing?"

"Nothing~!" Lavi handed Allen's phone back to him. "Hey! You wanna prank call someone?!"

"How can you prank someone over the phone?" Lavi gasped dramatically at Allen's question. Allen was pretty sure no one needed that much air in their system. Had it been him, he probably would've started coughing.

"You've never prank called someone?!"

"No?"

"Then I shall teach you the ways of prank calling," Lavi put his hand over his chest and bowed at Allen. "Young Grasshopper."

"Grasshopper? Is that supposed to be some kind of joke?" Lavi deadpanned. Allen probably doesn't watch a lot of movies...Lavi looked at Allen's crutches. Grasshopper...He started laughing.

"Ha, irony, I love it!" Allen shook his head. "Okay! Time to call someone...do you have an accent?"

"Accent? Why would I need an accent?" Lavi sighed.

"We have to pretend to be someone fake! That way they won't know it's us!"

"Why the bloody hell would we want to that?" Lavi's jaw dropped at the pure British accent that flew out of Allen's mouth. Allen laughed at Lavi's reaction. "I used to live in England."

"No way! That's so cool! Were you born there too?!" Allen shrugged. Lavi rose an eyebrow. He doesn't know if he was born there?

"What next?"

"Okay...let's be some type of made up company...one that sells..." Lavi searched around the room. His eyes landed on the little brunette boy who was stuffing his face full of hotdog. He stared at the yellow substance around the boy's mouth. "Mustard!"

"Mustard?"

"Yes! It shall be called Natsu's Mustard Company!"

"Natsu?"

"Yes!"

"Okay...so who are we calling?" Lavi stared at the bruise on Allen's cheek and grinned evilly.

"Daisya! He'll be freaked!" Allen started to think that this wasn't such a good idea but another side of him wanted to trick Daisya for doing what he did. "Alright, you have to type in *67 first." Allen clicked the numbers in.

"Okay? What next?"

"Now type this number in!" Lavi shoved his Android Rhyme into Allen's face. Allen squinted his eyes and Lavi took it back, forgetting that Allen wore glasses. Allen typed the numbers in cautiously. He wouldn't want to end up calling someone else and pranking them. Just as he finished typing it, Lavi pushed the call button. Allen gasped.

"Lavi! Why did you do that?! What am I supposed to-" Lavi put his index finger against his lip.

"Hello?" Here goes nothing...

"Good evening, Mr. Barry. We received a call from you a few days ago."

"Who is this?"

The doorbell rang but the two teens were too busy to notice.

"This is a current employee that works for the infamous Natsu Mustard Company."

"Mustard company?" Allen fake sighed. Lavi was trying to hold in his laughter.

"Yes, Mr. Barry, mustard. You ordered sixty three bottles a few days ago. I've called to tell you that the amount due is two hundred thirty four dollars and sixteen cents."

"Wait what?!"

"The truck will arrive at your house tomorrow around 4 pm. Please have the money ready by then."

"N-no wait! There must be some kind of mistake! I didn't-"

"I'll see you soon Mr. Barry. Goodbye~." Allen clicked the end button. Lavi was rolling in peels of laughter. Allen was grinning along. That was surprisingly more fun that he thought.

The door suddenly swung open to reveal Cross. He raised an eyebrow at Lavi. Allen chuckled and grabbed his wallet from the bedside table. It was decorated like a black and white checkerboard. He gave Cross a twenty dollar bill. Cross nodded and accepted it from him, leaving the room. He came back with the food, a plate, fork, and spoon.

"Thank you." Cross nodded and shut the door.

"That, Young Grasshopper, was a prank call. Are you sure you've never prank called someone?!" Allen nodded. "You're a natural! I can't wait to see his face tomorrow!"

"Wasn't he suspended?"

"That starts next Monday."

"Oh..." Allen dumped all the rice from the two plates on half of his china plate. He separated the chicken on the last two quarters of the plate. Allen licked his lips at the delicious dinner.

"I want some~!" Allen narrowed his eyes at Lavi, taking a large bite of rice. "C'mon, Allen~!" Lavi begged and a light bulb went off somewhere in his head. Remembering how Allen looked at Tyki before, Lavi gave Allen a kicked puppy look. Allen sighed and gave him a spoon. Lavi did a victorious leap in his head. "Yay~! Thanks Allen."

As they ate, Lavi started telling stories about his past three years in high school. He didn't fail to mention Neah and Band a lot. Allen always played around with his food instead of eating it when Neah was mentioned. He's doing a lot better without me there to bug him...he was always arguing with Mana when I was around...Another surge of curiosity struck Lavi.

"Say, Allen, if Neah is your uncle, why do you live with Cross?" Allen shrugged. Lavi remembered that Neah would tell them so many stories about Mana and Allen. He never told them how Mana died of course. He did remember a certain hilarious story that might flare the boy up from his depression. Sure, it would probably be embarrassing for Allen, but Lavi didn't care at the moment. He was more preoccupied with cheering Allen up. "Anyways, I remember a certain story he told us about you."

"H-huh?!" Neah talked about me?

"Yup, one of his most funniest stories yet in fact." Allen gave Lavi a suspicious look.

"What kind of story?" Lavi chuckled silently to himself.

He grinned evilly and cleared his throat...

_"Neah! Where did my Screaming Meanie go?! I need to get up for work!" Neah came walking in the room and saw Allen on the computer playing school games. Allen didn't even know that the games he was playing was helping him learn. Neah grinned to himself._

_"Well, someone put the damn alarm clock beside my head this morning." Neah glared at Mana. Mana snorted._

_"Well, someone likes to sleep for the whole day without fixing Allen food."_

_"Hey! I-"_

_"Just give me the alarm already, Neah." Neah smiled sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his neck._

_"I kinda threw it under your bed..."_

_"What?!"_

_"It ticked me off this morning!" Allen closed the tab on the computer and turned around curiously._

_"I'll help you look for it!" Allen volunteered. He hated to see Neah and Mana fight with each other._

_"Oh, Allen, you don't have to do that..." Neah frowned._

_"I will! You know what they say, the more the merrier!" He chirped. Allen flopped on his belly and looked under the bed. "I don't see it." Neah snickered and laid down next to Allen. They both started reaching under the bed and took out random items. Allen took a certain bottle and tilted his head to the side. "Hey, Mana, why do you have lotion under your bed?" Neah sat up and Mana looked over. Both of their eyes widened. Mana blushed and Neah burst into laughter._

_"Oh...my...God...Allen!" Neah said, holding his stomach from laughter._

_"I'm confused. What's so funny about lotion? Do you use this lotion on yourself, Mana? It looks full." Mana snatched it away._

_"Give me that!" Neah just kept laughing. It was just too funny. Mana glared at Neah, who shot him a grin. "Neah, what is this doing under my bed?"_

_"What kind of lotion is that, Mana?" Allen asked innocently. Neah giggled._

_"It's romance lotion, Allen!"_

_"Romance lotion? What does it smell like?" Neah started laughing again. Allen crossed his arms, pouting. "What's so funny?"_

_"N-nothing, Allen." Neah chuckled and ruffled Allen's brown hair. "Just go to sleep."_

_"Okay..." Allen bounced out of the room and into his bed in the other room, trying to figure out what was so funny._

He found out what was so funny when he met Cross, who also happened to have 'romance lotion' under his bed.

Allen blushed a bright red as Lavi couldn't stop laughing. Moreover, he was wondering why Mana would have that under his bed because he knew Mana didn't do those things. Maybe Neah did? This just made Allen blush more. He never heard anything...but then again, what if he was sleeping? And why is he even thinking about this?!

"It's not that funny." Allen said, looking away; he wouldn't let Lavi see him blush.

"You're right. It's hilarious."

"Not really!"

"Yeah it is! You're just embarrassed!" Lavi said pinching his burning cheek. Allen crossed his arms and didn't look at Lavi. Allen finished off the rest of the food while Lavi was still laughing. Allen looked over at the clock that read 7:43 pm. It was silent once again except for Lavi's small chuckles when he thought about it again. A room was never quiet whenever Lavi was in it. "Do you have any snacks?" Allen nodded. He put the plate on his bedside table and leaned over the edge of the bed. When he came back up, a box of fudge rounds were was held protectively in his arms. "Why do you have fudge rounds under your bed?" Allen held the box defensively against his chest.

"Cross tries to eat my snacks." Lavi was silent for awhile before he burst into a fit of laughter again.

"You really love food, don'tcha?" Allen nodded and took two fudge rounds out of the box. He stuffed said box back under his bed and threw one of the soft cookies at Lavi. Lavi beamed and tore into it. "I am honored that you can share your food with me, Allen." Allen simply devoured his cookie. Lavi was on his second bite when he looked up to see that Allen had already finished his. "That poor cookie never had a chance." Allen snorted. Lavi looked around the room again and spotted Allen's book bag. "Is your schedule in there?" Lavi asked, pointing at the object of books.

"Yes."

Lavi hopped off the bed. He unzipped the zipper and opened it up. Thrusting his hand inside, he searched around the books when his hand caught a hold of a thick notebook. Lavi took it out and cocked his head to the side. His eyes widened slightly when he saw the word MANA printed ever so boldly on the front. He didn't get to inspect if further because it was already being yanked out of his hands by Allen. Allen was actually glaring at him. Lavi held his hands up protectively.

"Hey, no harm done, I didn't open it!" He exclaimed. Allen's look softened and he kept holding it protectively close to his chest.

Lavi went back to searching for the schedule. He saw Allen shove the notebook under his pillow. Just then, Lavi found what he was looking for and pulled out the paper. Seems like Allen had Social Studies, Geometry, Lunch, P.E., and Art with him. For a Senior-Freshman friendship, that was quite a bit lucky.

"I didn't know I had Art and Geometry with you! How are you a freshman and taking Art II?"

"I took Art in middle school. I really sucked and Mana liked drawing so I figured I should get better. How are you a Senior and taking Geometry?"

"Touche. You must've taken Algebra in middle school too to get into Geometry. Why not Algebra II?"

"You answer first."

"Right, let's just say that I hate Math. You?"

"Because then I'd have to take Trigonometry my Senior year and I don't like Math that much." Lavi laughed.

"Makes sense. So what kinda grades do you get?" Allen shrugged.

"I guess you'll just have to find out later, hm?" Lavi nodded.

"Damn, that's like in October though!"

"I guess you just have to be patient then." Lavi pouted at the answer he received.

Allen looked over at the clock again. 8:17 pm. He yawned and shut the light off, alarming Lavi. Lavi looked up from the dark schedule to see Allen take his glasses off. Allen rubbed his left eye. Lavi took the glasses from his hand and put them on the bedside table. Allen snuggled under the comforter, mumbling a small "thanks" to Lavi.

"Going to bed already?"

"Mhmm, I'm tired."

For once in the past three years, Allen felt like he could trust somebody. That somebody being Lavi. He truly felt that he could open up to Lavi without being scared that Lavi would chat nonsense about it. Lavi to Allen was like some kind of true friend that Allen never got to have. Maybe the trembling Wallflower he was would finally steady itself and bloom into a beautiful rose. But, he'd just have to see about that.

Lavi sat there for a half hour, waiting for Allen to drift off to sleep. Luckily, Lavi was a patient person or he would've exploded by now. Once he heard Allen's breathing soften, he stood up quietly and slowly climbed on the mattress next to Allen. He gently reached under Allen's pillow, watching him for a reaction. Seconds turned to minutes when he finally retrieved the item of longing. He breathed a sigh of relief and scooted away from Allen slowly. He stared around the room and spotted a mini flashlight on Allen's bedside table. _Maybe he reads at night..._Lavi grabbed it, clicked it, and flashed it on the familiar cover of the notebook. He opened the cover to see ink filling the notebook's first page.

_Dear Mana,_

Mana was dead and Allen was writing to him...Lavi felt a depressing story coming on...

_It's been a week since you've been gone. After the incident, a scary looking man came in the hospital. He told me he was a friend of yours and that he would be taking care of me now. He also gave me this notebook. He said his name was Cross. I don't know where Neah went, but I hope he's doing okay. I can't help but think he hates me...the doctor keeps telling me that I was sleeping for 3 days after you 'passed away' whatever that means._

Lavi's throat tightened as he read the words slowly, absorbing it all in.

_Anyways, when I did wake up, I had white hair! Crazy, right? I wonder how it got that way...oh well...I also got a mark on my head from that mean man before you found me. There were these other people who came in to visit me but the doctor told them to go away...do you think it was those people who used to hurt me? I don't know...as long as I never get to see them again, its fine by me. Right now I'm in the car with Cross. He always looks at me like I should be sad or something. Why should I be sad though? I don't know, maybe I'll figure it out later...until then, I love you, Mana._

_-Allen Walker._

Lavi bit his lip and looked over at Allen before flipping to the back of the page he was reading, which was also covered in ink. Did he not know how to write in pencil? What if he made a mistake or something?

_Dear Mana,_

_I figured out what 'passed away' meant. I don't like it. I want to know why you died...the doctor says it was because the doctors couldn't save you. Stupid doctors. I feel so stupid now. Why am I such an idiot?! I asked Cross where Neah was. He said Neah ran away. Ran away from what though? Was it from me? Was it because it was my fault you died? I don't feel right, Mana. It feels like I'm going insane without you. Maybe I'm just lonely? Maybe I'll just ask Cross to take me to the park...would people think I'm weird because of my white hair and scar? I hope not..._

_-Allen Walker._

Lavi was so nervous. He shouldn't be reading these entries. These were Allen's thoughts on paper and he was violating them. This was right after Mana died. Neah only told him stories before Mana died. Allen knew what happened afterwords but neither Neah or he did. Allen was a source of information that could tell him what happened. Maybe he would write about what happened before Mana 'found' him. Maybe he would write about who the 'mean people' were and why they hurt him. He'd just have to find out.

_Dear Mana,_

_I called my doctor, 'doctor', today. She smiled at me and told me she wasn't a doctor. She says she's a 'therapist' whatever that is. I don't like seeing her. She asks me too many questions. I still call her doctor because she gets angry when I do that. She won't show me that she gets angry but I can see it in her eyes. I wonder if she thinks I'm insane. Cross says that she will help me, but she's only making things worse. She asked how I felt today. I told her that I felt fine so she would leave me alone. Is that bad? If I said that I was hurting, she would give me the look Cross used to give me. She would start to say things like "it's going to be okay" but what is going to be okay? I think everything is almost fine...except you're not here...I don't want to tell Cross that I'm hurting or he might tell doctor. I don't like doctor. She always has this odd feeling around her. I hope she'll leave me alone soon..._

_-Allen Walker._

Lavi was confused. He knew how therapists were, his mom was a therapist. She was always so kind so Lavi thought that all therapists were that way. Maybe Allen just had a bad therapist? He called her doctor to piss her off (which Lavi thought was quite funny) so she had to be a bad therapist. Lavi wondered if maybe Allen was just too traumatized. He read on.

_Dear Mana,_

_I haven't wrote to you in four days. Doctor says that's a good thing. She only knows because Cross told her that I was always writing in a notebook and she wouldn't leave me alone about it until I told her what I wrote in it. I should've just said that I drew in it, but I guess I wasn't so smart at the time, huh? Now she bugs me about it but I won't let her see it. These words are for you, not her. But, why wouldn't she want me to write to you? She's weird. Anyways, I went to the park today. I tried to talk to some kids my age but they only looked at me weird. I wonder if it's because of my accent. No, that sounds stupid. Maybe it's because I look weird. That's what it sounds like. They started to insult me because of my hair. Maybe I should just avoid people from now on..._

_-Allen Walker._

Allen really knew how to make people feel sympathetic towards him. Maybe the reason why Allen doesn't use his accent is because he thought that others thought it was weird?

_Dear Mana,_

_Today was the first day of middle school. I didn't talk to anyone and I didn't make any friends. The teachers were more nice than them though. The kids always looked at me funny. I wonder why they do that. To tell the truth, it actually kinda hurts. I don't know why it hurts, but it does. It makes me want to cry, but I wont cry. Oh, and doctor doesn't ask questions anymore. It doesn't seem like she actually cares. Maybe she expects me to tell her about middle school? I definitely won't tell her anything. Then she would start asking questions again..._

_-Allen Walker._

Allen really must've hated his therapist...but why?

_Dear Mana,_

_Today was the worst day. Ever. I had to walk to school today because I missed the bus and Cross didn't want to take me—but I don't blame him, I wouldn't want to wake up at six o' clock in the morning either. After I was late to school, I had to see doctor again. This time I really think she lost it. She started yelling at me. Maybe I shouldn't have called her doctor after all...she called me insane and said that I should just be a regular kid and tell her what I'm feeling. I argued back with her and told her that "I shouldn't have to tell someone, who I don't like, myfeelings." I really shouldn't have said that. She got all angry and started screaming random things at me. It actually hurt a lot what she said because I know it's true. I actually did start to cry...I felt really pathetic though. Her boss came and called Cross to come get me. After he did, he asked me about what she said but I wouldn't tell him. He said that I shouldn't cry though. At least he was trying to cheer me up, even though he was failing miserably at it. The next day, Cross told me that she got fired. I kinda feel bad now though...maybe I should've actually told her how I felt...would all this have happened if I did? How pitiful of me..._

_-Allen Walker._

Lavi felt his own anger towards this therapist of his. Who would scream at a kid and call him insane? Especially a fragile, traumatized kid? This woman deserved to be fired and here Allen thought he had done something wrong when it was her fault for being a terrible therapist. Lavi's eyes were starting to tire him out and he clicked the flashlight off. He put it back on the bedside table and closed the notebook. He wouldn't tell Neah about his findings. He'd have to tell Bookman, but he wouldn't get into the details. He slid the notebook back under Allen's pillow and threw the covers over him, falling asleep.

* * *

><p><strong>I really didn't mean for this story to be so angsty o3o;;; oh well, shit happens...xD much thanks to TriforceNinja and The Two Best Book Lovers. It's good to know you guys are liking the story :3<strong>


	5. Chapter 5

_Allen woke up in a pitch black room. He tried to walk around, but he couldn't see a thing. He felt a piano and stopped to play the keys. For some reason, the urge to play the piece Mana and Neah wrote together eased his mind and he did that. Allen didn't sing the words though, he only played the music. Suddenly, the walls around him lit up. He was shoved into a different point of view and saw himself as a kid. He stared in disbelief as all his friends were there, clapping for him. _Is this a dream?_ Allen wondered. He watched as his past self ran over to Tyki, who looked much younger than he did now. _This can't be a memory...I never saw Tyki and the others when I was this young._ Little Allen was enveloped in Tyki's arms. _

_"Good job, Allen!" Neah exclaimed, clapping. Little Allen giggled and snuggled into Tyki's chest. _

_"Awe, he's so cute~!" Road, who was as small as Little Allen, exclaimed. "Where did he come from, Uncle Mana?" _Uncle?!_ Allen thought incredulously._

_"You don't need to worry about that." Mana smiled and ruffled her hair. "But starting today, he is my son." Allen's throat tore up. _

_"Welcome to the family, Boy~." Tyki said, petting Little Allen's hair._

_Family... _

Allen sat up straight, opening his eyes. He looked around the dark room once again and looked down to see that he was in his bed. He looked to his right to see Lavi drooling on his pillow. Allen scowled at Lavi. _Ew! I've got to wash that now!_ Allen closed his right eye and looked around the room with his left eye. He could see better then. He recognized the area as his room. Allen was confused with that dream._ Family...what was Tyki talking about? What was that dream about?_ Allen rubbed his forehead, which was starting to heat up. He had a raging headache and crawled out of bed. He quietly walked out in the kitchen. His feet padded against the hard floor softly. Allen looked at the oven to see that it was 3:32 am. He grumbled at the time and opened the cupboard. He took out two Ibuprofen and swallowed them down with a cup of milk. He shook his head as his friends kept popping up in his head.

"_Allen! Don't play in the rain! You'll get sick!" Lulu Bell shouted worriedly._

"_Playing in the rain is fun Lulu! Don't ruin it!" Road shouted back, splashing her and Allen with water._

"_Allen, do you like sweet things?" Skin asked._

"_Y-yes!" Allen sneezed. Wisely snickered._

"_Lulu did tell you you would get sick if you played out in the rain." Allen stuck his tongue out at Wisely._

"_Be nice, Allen." Lulu Bell scolded._

_"Don't listen to Lulu, Allen, you should be naughty!" Devit encouraged._

"_Naughty Allen! Play pranks on people! It's fun!" Jasdero joined in. _

Allen shook his head, freeing his thoughts. This was just too much. He remembered that Devit had actually called him family when he was in Choir. This brought a full on scale of memories that Allen had lost after Mana's death and the shock. Allen fell to his knees and gripped his head from the pain. It felt like his mind just blew up. Everything just came back to him. Road was his cousin, Tyki was his uncle, Sheryl was his uncle, Lulu Bell was his aunt, Wisely was also his uncle, Skinn was his uncle, the principal Adam was his grandfather and the twins were his cousins. Which was quite odd. He sure had a lot of uncles...after realization hit him, he felt the whole world shaking...or well, his whole body. Allen's eyes lolled around in his sockets.

"Whoa, quit shaking the walls." Allen replied dumbly. He heard a sigh of relief.

"God damn, Allen, you scared the shit out of me!"

"Huh? Be quiet, people are sleeping." Allen shushed him.

"Are you feeling okay?"

"Mhmm..."

"You sure?" Allen opened his eyes and saw Lavi, staring at him distressed. He blinked a few times.

"You woke up?" Lavi slowly nodded his head at the question.

"Yeah, and then I came out here and you were shaking and it was crazy! Were you have a seizure or something?"

"Uh...I dunno...what time is it?"

"What time did you wake up?"

"Uh...3:30 something..."

"It's four now."

"Oh okay..." Allen mumbled stood up shakily.

"Why were you up anyways?" Lavi asked.

"I had a weird dream and I couldn't go back to sleep."

"A weird dream?" Lavi questioned. Allen nodded.

"It made my head hurt so I came downstairs to take some medicine. And then..."

"What was that weird dream about?"

"Actually, it was more like a memory..." _Oh shit..._Lavi thought, remembering that note from Cross' bathroom.

"What kind of memory?" Lavi pried.

"Hm...I just remembered something weird. Like _really_ weird." Allen nodded.

"What did you remember?" Allen paused before shaking his head.

"Never mind, it was probably just a dream, sorry for waking you up." Lavi's shoulders slumped. Just when he thought he got to a really good part, Allen goes and says it was a dream. _I must be going insane...I should just...forget about all that I dreamt about. It was nothing, it couldn't have been anything. It's probably from those times Devit accidentally called me family. That's all..._

"Oh...damn..."

"What?"

"Nothing! Phew, you still scared me back there though, you legitimately looked like you were having a seizure."

"Huh..." Allen walked to the other side of the kitchen to make himself a cup of coffee.

"So, why are you awake so early in the morning?...and where are your crutches?" Allen shrugged. "That didn't answer either of my questions. You shouldn't be walking with your leg like that."

"I heal quickly." Allen stated. His leg actually hurt quite a bit, but compared to his major headache, he could barely feel anything. He poured the black liquid into a coffee cup and added the correct amount of sugar and creamer.

"You drink _coffee?" _

"Yes. Why?"

"Nothing, you just don't seem like the coffee type of person." Lavi could tell Allen was thinking about something by the way he was staring at the brown liquid intently. Then again, he could always be staring at the coffee grains that floated around in his drink...

_Hmm...if Lavi and I are friends...then what about Tyki and the others? I mean sure they're nice and stuff...but Tyki and Lavi don't seem to like each other a lot. I wonder why they hate each other so much. Didn't Tyki and Lavi used to date? That's right...that's what I've heard anyways. If they liked each other so much...what made them break up? _Allen looked up from his drink to see Lavi staring at him attentively. He instantly lit up and looked back down at his drink. _Great, now he's staring at me...why is my heart beating so fast? I hadn't even taken a sip yet. _Allen pressed the warm drink to his lips and sipped it. _Maybe it's because of my headache..._

"Whatcha thinking about?" Lavi asked, causing Allen to blink and stare at him strangely.

"Huh?" He answered intelligently.

"You just looked focused is all. Whatcha thinking about?"

"Ah, nothing important." They both heard the door open quietly and looked at the entrance of the kitchen. Allen was beyond confused. Who would just walk right in their house without knocking? He was surprised to see Bookman standing there. Bookman looked at him curiously.

"I thought everyone was sleeping, I apologize for entering without permission."

"It's okay...but if you don't mind me asking...why are you here?"

"I'm here to take that idiot to school." Allen looked at the clock.

"It's four o clock."

"I know. I have to grade some papers I didn't finish and since he's my student aide, he gets to help out."

"Oh, I see. Would you like a cup of coffee?" Allen stood up.

"Thank you. Just black please." Allen nodded and took out a coffee cup and poured the energizing black water in the cup. He walked over to Bookman and gave him the cup before sitting down in his seat again. He saw Lavi's pout. "What?"

"You didn't offer me coffee!"

_You don't need any coffee. _Allen thought, but didn't voice his thoughts aloud.

"I didn't know you drank coffee."

"He doesn't." Bookman replied. "He just feels insulted that you didn't offer any." Lavi caught Allen's panicked look. _Gah, Gramps, look what you did! _

"Oh! I'm sorry!"

"Don't be, it's fine!" Lavi grinned reassuringly. Allen relaxed in his chair again. He looked down at his drink as another aura from the dream came back. _Is this some kind of flashback? But I don't remember it ever happening! _Bookman was standing in front of him, bandaging his wounds as he laid lifelessly on a couch. He looked back up at Bookman, who also seemed to be staring at him like Lavi was before. Allen instantly looked away and fingered the handle of his cup.

"You know who I am, don't you?" Bookman mumbled, catching Allen's attention.

"Excuse me? I believe you're my History teacher-" Allen started but Bookman interrupted him.

"That's not what I meant." Allen averted his gaze to the floor and sipped his drink again. _What? Panda Gramps knows Allen? It can't be from his work though...right? _Lavi thought, staring at Allen while Allen thought..._great, now they're both staring at me! _Allen thought. "You're not supposed to remember though, are you?" Allen stood up suddenly after Bookman's words.

"Excuse me. I have to get ready for school." Lavi watched him leave before returning his gaze to Bookman. He was surprised that Bookman let him go.

"What the-"

"Don't stick your nose where it doesn't belong, Lavi. You should stay out of this for now, got it?"

"Okay..." Lavi couldn't deny his grandfather's words. He stared at Allen's empty coffee mug. His curiosity still bugged him though. Just how did Allen and Bookman know each other?

* * *

><p>Two hours later, Allen was also on his way to school-deciding to not bother Cross and just walk. His leg was feeling better since this morning so he figured he could walk on it now. For some reason, he felt excited to go to school today-and that was first...ever since the riot happened, he had guilt boiling in the pit of his stomach. Perhaps he could bring up that family thing Devit was talking about. Then again, he couldn't really figure out why but, he kinda wanted to talk to Lavi today. They were friends right? "Yo! I was lookin' for you!"<p>

_Well, speak of the devil. _

Allen smiled and looked over to see Lavi running towards him. The redhead was also smiling, it only grew when he slung his arm around his shoulders and started leading him throughout the school. "Why were you looking for me?" Allen asked.

"I wanted to introduce you to my friends, duh." Allen frowned at the answer he received, thinking about Daisya.

"I don't think that's a good idea..." He mumbled back.

"Oh, come on, I'm sure they won't get upset, besides-"

"Lavi, I'd rather not..." Allen interrupted. Lavi frowned and sighed.

"Well, I'm not gonna force you into anything you don't want."

"Thanks..."

"No big deal. So, no crutches, huh?"

"My leg feels better than yesterday. It still hurts a bit and I'm pretty sure I'm still not doing anything in gym, but I don't think I need help standing up for now."

"For now?" Lavi asked.

"Well if I put too much pressure on it and it suddenly gets bad I'll have to sit."

"Sucks. So, where're we off to?"

"I usually just go to first period..."

"What? You don't even hang out with Tyki's gang?" Allen frowned.

"I've been trying to avoid them to prevent trouble but, seeing as they're in all of my classes, that's kinda hard." He answered bitterly.

"Avoid them? Why'd you want to do that?"

"I don't know...they just...creep me out a little..." Allen mumbled. "It's like we all know each other somehow...I've never met them before though...I don't think..."

"Hm..." Lavi hummed thoughtfully. "Well, if you've got nothing to do, how about we hang out in the cafeteria? I won't invite anyone over, promise. But, if they come over on their own, I can't exactly just tell them to go away, ya know?" Allen nodded.

"I guess that sounds nice."

"Great. Because Gramps didn't let me eat and I'm _starving." _The redhead grinned and Allen couldn't help but smile back.

_He's such a dork. _Allen thought as Lavi dragged him through the entrance of the school. Some students stared at them incredulously, others didn't really pay any attention. Lavi made him wait in line with him as well, despite the fact that Allen bugged him about just waiting. He'd rather sit in a table than stand in line with a bunch of people that looked at him funny. Once they finally got Lavi's tray, the two of them sat down and talked about...random things really. They didn't really stay on topic much since Lavi's attention span was the size of an ant. It was like once he was talking about something, a random thought came into his mind and he just blurted it out and they went onto that topic. It seemed like Lavi just said what was on his mind and that's it. He seemed to censor a few things, though; Allen could tell because Lavi would open his mouth and nothing would come out. Then he would close it and start talking about something else.

Then, he saw Lenalee.

Allen could feel himself shrink into his chair as she jogged over. "Hey, Lavi! I texted yo...oh...hi..." She greeted Allen a bit awkwardly. Now he just wanted to disappear. Or become invisible. Either one would make him feel better.

"Did you?" He asked and took his phone out of his pocket, checking his messages.

"Um. Yeah. Daisya brought up an interesting topic I think you'd know about." She said slowly, a small smile on her face as Lavi read her messages. "He started panicking about some mustard company that called him last night about ordering tons of mustard. Do you happen to know any _Natsu Mustard Companies?_" She emphasized and watched as Allen slowly lifted a hand to his mouth.

"I don't even _like _mustard." He retorted, giving Allen a cautious look. _Don't blow our cover! _"What about it?" He asked, feigning innocence. Lenalee rolled her eyes.

"Not sure how you came up with a perfect _British _accent, but seriously, Daisya's got enough on his plate at the moment-"

"Psh! I suck at British accents. Maybe it was, I don't know, an _actual_ mustard company?" He asked and shoved a forkful of pancake in his mouth.

"Can't be, Lavi. We looked it up and we all know about your supposed 'ninja skills'." Allen snorted at that, remembering the pool incident.

"What are _you _laughing at? You should know full well of my ninja activities! I'm simply amazing." He gloated at the shorter boy.

"Which is why you dived face first into a kiddy pool yesterday..." He said weakly, laughing a bit. Lenalee deadpanned. She was wondering where Lavi ran off to yesterday. Usually he hung out at her house or maybe even Kanda's. But, no, the redhead completely disappeared.

"That...!" Lavi paused and tapped his chin. "That was your dog's fault."

"What...? That doesn't even-"

"Yeah! Him and his shaking with his wetness!" Lenalee blinked several times.

"He was taking a bath!" Allen countered. "That doesn't even make sense, you're just not a ninja." He huffed, crossing his arms.

"Oh boy..." Lenalee mumbled.

"I'm so offended!" Lavi wailed. "I thought we were pals, Allen! We even slept in the same bed! You traitor!" He whined, slumping against him. Allen blushed darkly.

"Don't say that out loud, you idiot!" He hissed and pushed him off.

"Allen, how could youuuuu~?" He whined.

"O-oi, get off..." Allen mumbled. Lenalee smiled at the two of them. It seemed like Allen was a lot happier than yesterday. She was a bit surprised that Allen let Lavi into his bed, but, Lavi was persistent when it came to sleeping over at friends' houses. He even tried getting into her bed, which her brother would definitely not have. He even tried going with the excuse that he was gay so it was okay.

It was not okay.

"I'll catch you later, Lavi." She said and trotted off.

"Noooo, Lenaleeee, don't leave me alone with this traitor!" He whined. Allen rolled his eyes along with the girl.

"If I'm such a traitor, then why are you laying on me?"

"Because you're comfy."

Allen hated blushing. It made his face feel all weird and warm. He felt like hiding every time he'd blush and it seemed like Lavi was able to make him want to hide forever. It was like everything this redhead said, embarrassed him. He wondered if Lavi acted this way around the others as well. Thinking of him acting this way with Kanda, he wondered how this guy was even alive. "Don't...say things like that..." He mumbled and Lavi looked up at him curiously, seeing how red Allen's face was. He grinned, loving the way he could control his feelings. Maybe, his superpower ninja skills could control his feelings into happiness.

Okay, so maybe he was a little bit of an idiot.

* * *

><p><strong>Dorky Lavi is the best kind of Lavi there is. He's such an idiot, I love him. I probably would have updated this more quickly if I had a computer. I just bought one off my friend for two hundred but it's a piece of crap :l I need to uninstall so much stuff since I can't factory reset it, trust me I tried. Anywho, my lovely reviewers: RAGNOROKgirl564, Golden-Garden, Guest, and The Kaitie Kat, thank you so much. I'm getting a little more excited about writing this story. <strong>


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